Spiritcaller
by Bard of Arendelle
Summary: My first fic, posted in commemoration of Elsa's birthday. A lot of people probably have their own ideas about how Agnarr and Iduna ended up marrying after watching Frozen 2. Well, here's my own interpretation, concerning a young, uncertain King who just lost his father and a little Northuldra girl stranded without a home, without a family, without friends.
1. Lost Outside the Woods

_Elsa's birthday sounds like a great place to start a fic, so here we go._

**Disclaimer: Disney owns Frozen, I don't. Sigh.**

* * *

Arendelle – a kingdom far north where cold and winter air and mountain rain combine to create a mystic atmosphere. A land of headstrong but diligent icemasters, a land where, despite ongoing modernization, reindeers can still be found pulling sleighs, yet people's faces are filled with rugged but honest smiles.

Some would tell you that the true beauty of Arendelle lies in winter. Perhaps so, judging from the gasps of amazement from tourists that witness the grandeur of the winter fjords that can be seen from every place in the kingdom.

But its citizens, or anyone who'd been there for an extended period, would tell you – the true beauty of Arendelle lies not in any season, but in the lives of the people who inhabit it.

Yet this usually prospering kingdom has its own share of fell days. This tale begins on one such day, when Arendelle loses a King in a conquest far up north.

* * *

_**-March 1808-**_

Despite most people's wishes, sometimes battles are fought, sometimes you lose and must run away. So a ragtag band of Arendellian troops fleeing from a forest, desperately guarding several carts of supplies and the wounded, that's tragic but normal – until, at least, you notice they're being assaulted by boulders bigger than bears launching themselves and balls of living fire chasing after them.

What's also abnormal is that back in one of the carts lies an unconscious boy that looks as if he's barely in his teens, and obviously too young to participate in a battle of any kind. His outfit is also far from that of a soldier, more like a nobleman who was invited to a friendly meeting.

At least, that what the little maroon-haired girl thinks he is as she lies motionless beside him, hidden under a cloak bigger than herself.

It took all of Iduna's self-control not to cry out as yet another boulder crashed right beside the cart she was on. She had never seen the spirits so angry before and it frightened her.

What scared her even more, however, was that if anyone found out that she was in here, she might be hauled out and killed like how the soldiers all around her and her own tribespeople had tried to kill each other.

That was the part she understood the least; she had heard the grown-ups saying that the tall and pale-skinned visitors were friendly people, and they certainly seemed to behave like they were.

Then there was this boy, the one lying beside her right now. He seemed to be the only child among the visitors, though he still looked older than her, and there was just something about his expressions as he let himself be charmed by the playful spirits that the eleven-year-old girl found very… curious.

Iduna was always on good terms with the spirits, even for a Northuldra. More than once she caught Fire trying to slip into her scarf to tickle her, Water would often rise from the stream to lick her face while she was washing herself, and even Earth would occasionally offer their hands so that she could pick little flowers growing on their fingertips.

But it was Wind who enjoyed her company the most, often entertaining her by lifting her from the ground and all the way up to the treetops, tickling her arms and belly with leaves along the way. Even when all the other spirits unleashed their wraths upon the fighting people moments ago, Wind alone had answered Iduna's desperate call and took her and the boy away from the chaos – and here she was, hidden away in a cart surrounded by unfamiliar (and possibly still hostile) people as they fled further and further away from home.

Despite the confusing situation, Iduna was sure that helping the boy was a right thing to do; even if he wasn't a good person (which she doubted), she couldn't just let him die.

What she wasn't sure about was her own decision to follow the boy. She reasoned that it was to make sure that he arrives home safe, but then again why should she? She didn't owe him anything. For all she knew, he's never even seen her before.

Iduna violently shook her head. It may have been a spur-of-the-moment decision, but it was one she made. She wanted his life saved, so she was going to see it through before heading back home.

The idea of returning made her feel a little better, just enough to allow sleep to comfort the waves churning in her heart.

* * *

"It's Prince Agnarr!"

"The Guards have returned!"

Shouts rising from the castle woke Agnarr with a start. Looking around wildly in brief panic, it didn't take long for the fourteen-year-old prince to realize that he was in the back of a rugged supply cart, surrounded by the soldiers that went to the Enchanted Forest accompanying him and –

The young prince had to fight back his tears at the thought of his father. His stern but strong father, the King of Arendelle… who would never return to his people and family.

"Open the gates!"

During his moment of grief they have reached the castle gates – Agnarr deduced that he'd been out for at least two days -, and a servant boy came rushing out to greet the Captain of the Guard as he dismounted from his horse.

"Captain! What had happened? Where's the King?" Stuttered a panicked Kai, only relaxing a little as he noticed Agnarr leaping down from the cart to usher in the wounded soldiers first.

"… King Runeard has fallen," replied the grief-stricken captain, causing shocked gasps to rise from around them. "Something went wrong. There has been treachery, and the Northuldra attacked us. We barely managed to escape."

A grim silence fell upon the crowd as the gathered people grasped the magnitude of the news. Then, starting from Kai, everyone bowed before Agnarr, recognizing him as the new King of Arendelle.

The young prince himself was more occupied with identifying the people who had escorted him home. He knew most of Arendellian soldiers by name and face, and could easily tell who had went to the Enchanted Forest with him but had not returned – which included, to his horror, his own Royal Guard.

"Your Majesty,"

Agnarr started at the title, and it wasn't until he whirled around to see the Captain of the Guard kneeling before him that he realized the title was meant for him, not his father.

"I know this is going to be hard," continued the Captain, picking his words carefully. "But now you are our King and liegelord, and your words will decide our next course of action. What would you have us do?"

Agnarr wished to do a lot of things; grieving over the loss of his father, so soon after his mother had passed away, panicking that the duty of Kingship would be his so soon, or maybe just running off to who-knows-where and away from everyone and everything.

But he knew he couldn't. Runeard always emphasized the importance of a King and how he must be someone everyone should look up to, and now it was his turn to be that man. He was King and he had a kingdom to settle after a terrible loss.

"There are soldiers still trapped in the woods," he managed to choke out after a brief silence. "We must bring them back. Captain, you have liberty to assemble your troops to do so."

"As you command," replied the Captain, looking a little relieved that Agnarr was at least in a state to issue proper orders. At once he began barking out orders to his soldiers, and pretty soon a battalion of reinforced troops were galloping back north for a rescue mission.

Little did he know that in one of the carts taken for the trip hid a trembling Northuldra girl inside, scared stiff but hopeful that she could head home sooner than she thought.

* * *

A prince. A king.

The Northuldra didn't have such a thing, but Iduna had always been interested in stories about people outside the forest. She had heard enough to know that a king was someone important, like the Chieftain, but much more.

And the boy she had seen home is a King.

She had no idea why the fact bothered her so much. She had seen him home and will return home herself, and would likely never see him again. It shouldn't matter if he's a King or Prince or whatever…

This was just one of the confusing thoughts roaring in Iduna's mind. Her one consolation was that she was headed home – except she was hiding among Arendellian soldiers in the process. The boy – King Agnarr, she reminded herself – said that they were going to rescue their friends back in the woods, but what would happen if they came across the Northuldra again? Would they start fighting again? What would she do then?

Iduna was sure she'd never spent this much time doing nothing else but brooding like this, and it consisted the whole of the two-day journey from Arendelle to the woods.

Peeking out from the large blanket she was hiding under, she could see some familiar shrubs that grew outside the woods – she was almost home.

She was deciding on how to slip out of the cart unnoticed when she could hear startled cries up ahead: "What is _that_?"

Iduna was never the type to win against curiosity, so she dared to peep out one more time to what was up ahead –

\- and found herself looking up at a wall of mist that certainly hadn't been there before.

Barely able to stifle a gasp, Iduna could easily see that the thick fog was covering the entire area where the Forest should be, its mere sight so menacing and ominous that she couldn't help but shiver.

The soldiers cautiously approached the mist until they stood right in front of it, but even then it no one could see anything within. Iduna watched on with shock as one of them boldly tried to walk in – only to be bounced back with a surprised grunt, as if someone had roughly pushed him out.

For hours from then the Arendellians struggled to break through the barrier; some rammed into it as if they'd bring down a door, some tried throwing spears and arrows inside, and once they even tried to light a fire in front of it. But all to no avail; the mist repelled everything. Nothing could go in, and nothing seemed to be coming out.

To their credit, the soldiers tried every method from dawn to dusk, until they eventually admitted defeat and turned away to report to their new King about their failure. It wasn't until they completely vanished out of site that Iduna dared to move away from the rock she'd hidden behind at some point, timidly standing in front of the one thing that stood between her and home.

Maybe the spirits have thrown this wall up to repel strangers. She wasn't a stranger; she belonged here, in the forest. Maybe the spirits would recognize her and let her in.

Willing herself to believe it Iduna slowly raised her hand, putting it into the mist –

"Oof!"

\- and was shoved back no differently than the soldiers from earlier.

So much for hoping. But Iduna had another plan in mind.

_AH-AH-AH-AHH – _

After clearing her throat once she let out her signature call, the sound she'd always make when she wanted a spirit around, and sooner or later (usually sooner) one of them would answer her, mostly Wind.

_AH-AH-AH-AHH – _

But her call dissipated into nothing over the mist, so tall and imposing – even larger than the castle Iduna had seen back in Arendelle.

The spirits were silent.

Iduna didn't know her knees had hit the ground until she felt her tears splashing onto her pants. For the first time in forever she was utterly alone, cut off from her family and home with nowhere to go, and the weight of that despair came crashing down as if Earth itself had stepped on her.

"Mama! Papa!" She cried, knowing they won't hear her but feeling the need nonetheless. "Grandma! Chief! Yelena! I'm sorry! I won't ever run off on my own again! I'll do everything as you say! Please….. Just let me in…"

There were no answers to the little girl's wails, but the stars peeked out from behind the clouds to shine on Iduna, as if the heavens had heard the loneliness within.

* * *

_I suppose everyone has their own ideas about Agnarr and Iduna's backstory after watching Frozen 2, and I've decided to concoct my own for my first upload, however it'll turn out. It'll be 19 chapters long, but each chapter won't be really long, I'm afraid. Hope you enjoy!_


	2. Boy King and the Huntress

_**-August 1808-**_

Agnarr had been King for 5 months, and he was already exhausted.

Rephrasing that, the royal duties themselves were tough, but he felt like he could handle it; Runeard had made sure he'd been educated on those since he could talk, and he was still learning. The Parliament didn't expect him to be able to do things perfectly all at once, so they were fine with cutting him some slack.

No, what _really_ tormented him were his nights rather than days. In every one of his sleeps he'd dream of that day in the Enchanted Forest, seeing his father fall over and over again until he'd wake up sweating and wheezing.

The Enchanted Forest had been completely sealed off by the mysterious mist wall, effectively blocking everyone from knowing what had really happened – and from retrieving the soldiers trapped inside. The entire kingdom grieved for them - and Agnarr in particular grieved for his friend Mattias – for as far as things go, they were as good as lost.

It was bad enough feeling that there was something fundamentally _wrong_ about the whole ordeal, though Agnarr couldn't quite put a finger on what it was. It didn't have to come and gnaw at his heart at nights as well.

There was something else that haunted his dreams, but in a different manner: the mysterious voice that he heard when he was saved in the Forest, the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Even counting out the fact that its owner had apparently saved him from certain death, Agnarr found himself being soothed into oblivion whenever the singsong voice would intrude on his nightmare.

Sometimes, when he awoke sweating and panting from escaping yet another bad dream, the young King could swear that the sound still echoed in his ears. He liked to imagine that he was actually hearing it, the wind carrying those sweet melodies to him from who-knows-where.

It would make his days way more bearable, that was for sure.

One day Agnarr decided that to get rid of all the stress he had to stretch his legs once in a while, hence his spontaneous decision to join the border guards for a patrol outside the capital borders. A little fresh air and some exercise for a change wouldn't hurt, as Kai had pointed out – the fourteen-year-old King wasn't exactly an outdoor person.

The patrol was mostly uneventful, though Agnarr and the guards found traces of buried animal remains or traces of small camps here and there. Someone had apparently been hunting outside the capital, and Agnarr hoped that they weren't following up on some bandit's tracks.

They were halfway around circumventing the walls when Tyr, Agnarr's horse, suddenly snorted in surprise.

"What is it, boy?" Agnarr asked his nervous-looking horse when a whistle of the winds tickled his ear, and he whipped around to see a soft summer breeze carrying a handful of fallen flowers past him and the guards.

For a moment, just for a split moment – Agnarr thought he saw the petals arrange themselves in the shape of a girl before dissipating and flying off.

"Your Majesty!"

The guards had very little time to react as Agnarr literally kick-started Tyr, hurriedly taking off after the breeze with wide eyes. He didn't know what made him feel so desperate to do so, but something about the way the wind carried itself was hauntingly familiar…

… to the wind spirit of the Enchanted Forest.

* * *

Iduna knew today's hunt would be successful the moment the wooden spear left her hand.

The pheasant didn't have a chance; it was upwind so that Iduna's scent was hidden, and the spear was swift and accurate as it went straight through the creature's heart, killing it without unnecessary pain.

Rushing forward to pick up her catch, the eleven-year-old paused for a moment, wondering how her life had come to this in less than half a year.

When the Mist fell upon her home and locked her out, Iduna had spent a whole day crying, calling out to the unanswering spirits, and begging for anyone she knew to come out and find her. The next day was spent accepting the fact that she was never going home and would probably die here, just outside of the place where she belonged.

Then, on the third day, the spirit arrived.

Iduna had just woken up, eyes swollen and puffy from crying, and she found herself looking into a girl made out of petals – or that was what the wind was shaping them into.

"Another Wind?" Murmured Iduna in confusion as she withheld a foreign spirit for the first time. For she could tell that this was a different spirit from the one that loved carrying her around back home; it just… felt different.

It was hard to tell the flower girl's expression, but it looked as if she was trying to smile at her – until the wind carried it south, all the while beckoning Iduna to follow.

She had nowhere else to go, so Iduna found herself following her – all the way back to the outskirts of Arendelle.

Iduna had no idea why she was brought here, but it was easier to live by herself in the fjord; there were woods to hunt in, rivers to wash or catch fish, berries to pick, and as long as she didn't dare venture into the city itself no one would notice her.

Sometimes she was tempted to sneak into town to see if the boy – King, she corrected herself – was still there, but decided against it. She had gone inside once to steal some thrown-away clothes when her own became to ragged to wear, but there was no way she could go into the enormous castle without anyone noticing.

"Oh! Oh, hello!"

So lost was Iduna in her thoughts that she jumped with a start when Sylph – that's what she called her new wind spirit friend now – whisked past her waving. Then she froze in horror at the sound of horses neighing, several of them.

_Oh, no. The patrol!_

The maroon-haired girl frantically looked around for somewhere to run or hide, but the horses were already too close for her to do anything. She had barely managed to snatch up her spear and the pheasant when a large brush behind her burst open to let a magnificent white horse through –

\- on top of which rode King Agnarr himself.

"Whoa, whoa!" Startled by the girl's sudden appearance he nearly fell out of his horse as he reared back, barely managing to stop before the startled steed landed a solid kick into Iduna's face.

And so the boy who became King and the girl who saved him exchanged looks for the first time, with Agnarr awkwardly looked down at her from horseback and Iduna suddenly feeling self-conscious as she stood there like an idiot with a bloodied spear in one hand and a dead pheasant in another.

"Erm," It was Agnarr who decided to break the silence first, hastily dismounting his horse and walking over to the petrified girl. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah – I mean, erm, yes, your majesty?" Stammered Iduna, remembering that there was a certain way to address a King as she hastily hid the spear and the pheasant behind her back.

"You know who I am?" Asked Agnarr, looking bemused now.

"Doesn't everyone?" Iduna found herself asking back, mentally kicking herself not to sound so cheeky. _Of course_ she knew him, she saw him all the way home from the Forest – but there was no way she was going to tell him that she was Northuldra.

"Well, I've never seen you in Arendelle, and you don't look as if you've ever been there," said Agnarr observantly, causing Iduna to blanch again. "Why are you living out here? Where's your family?"

"… I lost them," replied Iduna after hesitating, feeling the old sadness creeping up again. "My home, too. I have nowhere to go."

"Oh. I… I'm sorry," murmured Agnarr, his face falling as well.

Iduna was just about to tell him that it was okay when the brush behind them rustled again, leading several more horses into the little clearing, all hosting Arendellian guards.

"Your Majesty, what was that all about?" Protested one of the guards above his panting horse. "You can't just run off like that and leave us behind. What if something had happened to you?"

"Sorry," apologized Agnarr with chagrin, looking more like a boy being scolded than a King. "I thought I saw something… must have imagined it."

"Who is the child?" Asked another guard, throwing a curious but wary look at Iduna. "Doesn't look like she's from town. A rogue?"

"A rogue younger than me? I doubt it," Agnarr replied before an indignant Iduna could retort. Turning back to the girl he spoke again: "At least I think she's younger than me. How old are you? Can I know your name?"

"I-Iduna. I'm ten," replied Iduna, suddenly feeling shy again. What was wrong with her?

"Well, there you have it," Agnarr told the guards, looking as if he'd just proven a point. "Well, Iduna, in any case I don't think the woods out here is safe for a child to live all alone. Like the guards had said, there could be rogues and bandits, and wolves may come down in the winter."

"I haven't seen any rogues and bandits for months since I came here," objected Iduna, though her eyes trembled a little in fear at the mention of wolves.

"Still, it would be a better idea to be inside the city rather than out of it," replied Agnarr, suddenly looking a little uncertain. "You… do you _want_ to live out here all by yourself? Aren't you lonely?"

_That_ question caught Iduna off guard.

"No, but…... I've never been in a city; I don't know what I'm to do in there. And I don't have any money." Heck, she barely even _understood_ the concept of money! Little tokens used in trade, right?

"_That_ can be amended," suggested Agnarr, though that cautious look remained. "You see, months ago we reduced the castle staff a little too much, and I was thinking about hiring a few more. Would… would you like to be interested?"

"… wait, what?" Was all Iduna could reply, astounded as she was; some of the guards flashed indignant looks, but she hardly noticed. What was he suggesting? That she should come and work at the castle? Her?

"It's just an idea; I'm not ordering you to do anything!" Agnarr added hurriedly, apparently noticing Iduna's hesitation. "I mean, if you don't want to, that's all fine; I don't want you to think I'm too overbearing or anything, but I figured that if you do want to be in Arendelle, this is the best method I can think of…"

There was something out the way the young King suddenly began stammering that Iduna found so… how was she to put it? _Endearing_.

She found herself nodding yes before her thoughts caught up to her.

"Oh, and of course you can keep that, by the way," joked Agnarr as they prepared to head back to town, glancing at the pheasant Iduna was still carrying, earning an embarrassed glare from her when no one was looking.

* * *

_I suppose the Sylph counts as an OC, right...?_

_And you can see where Anna got her rambling habits from :)_


	3. A Song Full of Memories

_**-November 1808-**_

To her credit Iduna was a fast learner, and her first three months in the castle was enough for her to pick up on most of the things about Arendelle.

Her chores were simple enough, and it mostly involved cleaning and running errands into the village. Agnarr had specifically ordered the older staff to assign her such duties so that she would get used to the town and the castle quickly, for which she was grateful for.

The castle was surprisingly accommodating, and she definitely ate and slept well, but she liked her little errands that led her outside too; whatever prejudice she had held against Arendellian citizens quickly faded as they treated her well with welcoming smiles and helping hands.

But what interested her the most was, of course, getting to know Agnarr.

It wasn't often that the two would pass by each other, enormous as the castle was, but it was enough for Iduna to see that the young King seemed to be everywhere at once – between taking unfinished lessons, attending meetings with the council (Parliament, they called it), and occasionally seeing to his people's well-being himself in outings, it appeared that there was no time for rest in Agnarr's schedule at all.

Maybe that was why Iduna would sometimes see his eyes bagged and with thin shadows underneath them in the morning, but she never dared to voice her thoughts out loud; the maroon-haired girl was observant enough to see that Agnarr didn't dare show any signs of weakness in front of his subjects.

But the very fact made him look lonely, even when he is surrounded by a sea of people, and that made Iduna sad for reasons she couldn't explain.

Speaking of loneliness, Iduna herself hadn't fully escaped its grasp either. Sure, she was treated well here and the people were nice, but the fact didn't change that she was a homeless girl without a family to turn to, and that was a big burden for an eleven-year-old girl.

It was the loneliness that sometimes got her awake at night, when she would silently sneak out of the staff bedroom and make it to the roof of the castle. There, quietly so that the tower guards don't hear, she would call out to the spirits again, wishing that the winds would carry them north to her home, maybe even echo through the impenetrable Mist and let her family and friends know that she was alive and well.

The Sylph would then join her there, her secret friend, and a friendly reminder that there were spirits out here as well. Maybe they could hear her calls as well?

* * *

It was on one of those nights that Iduna was walking down the corridors late at night, feeling a little better after calling out to the unseen spirits, when a strange sound echoed out from somewhere… a whimper?

"Who's there?" Whispered Iduna in alarm, hoping that it wasn't another servant and she was caught walking around in the dark. After several wild looks around, she realized that the sound was coming from a singled-out room far up ahead –

\- it was the King's bedroom.

Iduna's first instinct was to turn around and escape before anyone saw her around the spot, but then she sensitive ears caught the obvious sound of someone in distress coming from Agnarr's room.

What if something was wrong with him?

Eventually her concern and sense of duty overcame Iduna's fear; she had to check up on him, and call for someone if he was really sick or something.

Treading as lightly as possible Iduna crept up to the King's chamber, wincing as she creaked the door open. She realized a little too late that maybe she should've knocked first in case he was awake, but it was too late to change that.

Fortunately, Agnarr was not awake as Iduna cautiously approached him, but that was about the only good thing. Iduna stifled a gasp as she saw the young King tossing and turning in his bed, his entire body covered in cold sweat and an anguished groan escaping his mouth every now and then.

She didn't need a doctor to tell her that he was going through an intensely ugly nightmare.

For a moment Iduna hesitated. She knew a very effective way that her mother had always used on her whenever she had her own bad dreams, but the method was very Northuldra and Iduna was certainly not planning on being caught doing it. Even without that, she was in the King's room without permission as he lay vulnerable in front of her. Being caught with that… she didn't even want to think about the consequences.

"F-father…"

A single word that Agnarr managed to choke out caught her attention. The way he called for him so pleadingly… his father, who had fallen in the very battle that made Iduna lose her family and home.

It had never occurred to her before that now Agnarr was without a family as well.

Maybe it was that realization that had Iduna made up her mind; her secrets be damned, she was not going to see that pained expression on his face for another second.

As quietly as she could manage she sat on her knees so that her face was almost level with Agnarr's, and began singing the Tribe's old lullaby:

_**Where the north wind meets the sea**_

_**There's a river full of memory**_

_**Sleep, my darling, safe and sound**_

_**For in this river all is found**_

Agnarr let out another moan as the song softly caressed him, but this time it wasn't a sound of anguish anymore.

_**In her waters, deep and true**_

_**Lie the answers and a path for you**_

_**Dive down deep into her sound**_

_**But not too far, or you'll be drowned**_

"Mmm…" murmured Agnarr as he finally straightened up, no longer twitching or thrashing in bed as Iduna's lullaby did its work.

_**Yes, she will sing to those who hear**_

_**And in her song all magic flows**_

_**But can you brave what you most fear?**_

_**Can you face what the river knows?**_

At this point the King had more or less slipped back into a more peaceful form of sleep, and Iduna could tell that it was okay for her to stop there. Still she felt compelled to at least finish the song:

_**Where the north wind meets the sea**_

_**There's a mother full of memory**_

_**Come, my darling, homeward bound**_

_**When all is lost, then all is found...**_

With that, glancing once at Agnarr to make sure that he was sleeping well now, Iduna silently slipped out of his room, feeling soothed by the old song as much as he was.

* * *

"You seem to be in a good mood today, your Majesty."

"Does it look like that?" Agnarr asked back at Kai during breakfast, to which the young page nodded with vigor.

"Lately it felt like all the work was wearing you down a little. I suppose a good night's sleep was just what you needed, sire."

"I suppose you're right; I haven't slept so well in months," admitted Agnarr with a soft laugh. Indeed, last night was one of the very few nights that he could remember with almost no nightmares at all. Instead, it had been filled with a mysterious melody that he couldn't quite remember, but it certainly helped to chase his demons away. "Hey Kai, have you ever had a dream in which you hear a song that you've never heard before?"

"No, sir, I daresay I haven't," replied Kai with a shake of his head. "If that's what happened to you yesterday, I assume it was a very good song."

"It was," agreed Agnarr as he finished breakfast with a light sigh. "It's a shame I can't remember it at all. Whoever sang it, I'm definitely a fan."

The servants that had been waiting behind moved in to take away the finished dishes, and the young King noticed that today Iduna was one of them.

Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he saw a trace of a relieved smile in the young girl's face.

* * *

_Fanfiction isn't very songfic-friendly, is it? Oh well._

_Personally I like to think that Agnarr was all about this whole conceal-it-don't-feel-it business with Elsa because he'd done it all his life after being King as well. The difference, I guess, was that he had Iduna to relieve him from that burden while Elsa was denied such a chance from Anna. :(_


	4. Nightmare's Weakness

_I realize that there's been a typo in Chapter 2... Iduna is currently eleven, while Agnarr is fourteen._

* * *

_**-December 1808-**_

It turned out that Agnarr's nightmares were rather a common occurrence, as Iduna discovered after a few more secret visits to his room at night. She knew she was dead if she got caught, but after that tormented expression the bad dreams were causing and the peaceful face that her lullaby had brought she just _had_ to check on him again from time to time, crooning the old lullaby to him when he slept badly.

She was acutely aware of the fact that his nightmares mostly had to do with the Enchanted Forest, where he had witnessed a bloody battle AND lost his father before his eyes. That, coupled with the strain he was receiving from being a fourteen-year-old King, was enough to turn each one of his nights into hell.

And that made Iduna so sad and afraid, knowing that he remembered her home as a spot of horror. She could only hope that her Northuldra song could help take away the pain that the Northuldra land had brought him.

As she had made a new, rather irregular chore of singing Agnarr's nightmares away for herself, her little escapades to the roof became a lot less frequent; she was already sacrificing enough of her own sleeps as it was.

But less frequent didn't mean not at all, so it was on one chilly winter night that Iduna found herself on the top of the castle again, softly calling out to the spirits that she know wouldn't answer.

"… Brr," she shivered as the winter breeze scratched her skin, silently thanking the fact that Sylph had not followed her up here today; by now she'd probably be carrying snowflakes instead of petals. It was mean of her to think that of her secret friend, but she couldn't help it.

With a small sigh she looked up at the sky, where the same stars that she'd looked up to back at the Forest shined down on her. Were her tribespeople looking at them tonight as well? Or was the Mist so thick it blotted out the sky too?

As she was wondering that, she suddenly noticed that one star in particular was glowing larger than the others. Its color was also a bright orange, and as Iduna watched on in awe it… moved?

"That's not a star!" Whispered the young girl in surprise as the 'star' whisked down from the sky, and it wasn't until it came all the way down in front of Iduna that she saw what it actually was: a moving ball of fire the size of one of her little fist, bobbing up and down as if greeting her.

"A Will O' Wisp!" Gasped Iduna in amazement as she beheld the newcomer. She'd heard about the mysterious floating light from Yelena, but the Northuldra were unsure of the fact that they could be called spirits; the spirits of the Forest were the only ones they knew, after all. But seeing one here, there was no doubting that this was a fire spirit in its own right.

"Did… did you hear me calling out?" The maroon-haired girl dared to ask, and almost yelped in surprise as the Will O' Wisp bobbed up and down again, as if answering yes. "I… thank you for listening to me. I've been calling out to anyone who'd hear for months, but you're the second one to answer so far."

The Will O' Wisp only circled around Iduna once for that, its flame colors changing into violet; it reminded her of Fire back home, and it made has a little wistful again.

"Well, I'm certainly happy to have you around as a friend," she told the fire spirit, whose color changed into a bright orange again. "But just make sure that you're not seen around other people here, okay? Arendellians are afraid of spirits, and there'll be trouble if they find out about you, and I don't want to be kicked out of here, you know?"

The Will O' Wisp's flames turned blue at that, which Iduna interpreted as being sad, but again it nodded in agreement.

"Great!" Concluded Iduna happily at her new friend. Another chilly wind blew by her, but this time the fire spirit's warmth cancelled out its effects. "Well, I hope to see you again soon. I gotta go check on somebody."

With that Iduna quickly slid down the roof and into the nearest window, hoping to see if Agnarr was sleeping well before going to bed herself.

* * *

To Iduna's surprise the Will O' Wisp followed her inside, but it had apparently listened to her warning earlier, shrinking down to a speck of light that was barely noticeable.

Still, Iduna was glad that it was here; if anyone saw her there' be hell to pay, but she'd still be in trouble without the fire spirit anyway. And the light that the Will O' Wisp provided certainly proved useful in the dark corridors, so she couldn't complain.

As soon as she came near Agnarr's room she could tell that it was one of the bad days; even outside she could hear the young King tossing and turning, murmuring broken words that were laced with despair and terror.

Falling into her usual pattern Iduna quietly opened the door and slipped in, and was just about to shut the door when the Will O' Wisp suddenly whisked in after her, enlarging itself again causing the room to brighten up as if twenty candles had bit lit all at once.

"Hey! What are you – " hissed Iduna in surprise, but whatever she was trying to say next died in her throat once she laid her eyes on what the sudden light was illuminating.

A massive, pitch-black figure loomed above Agnarr's sleeping form like the Grim Reaper, its upper body completely swathed in a black cloak and its lower half nothing but black smoke that seemed to billow out of the King himself. The only part of its body that was actually visible were its clawed hands, on of which was resting on Agnarr's head. Its head was close up against his face in a menacing way, and Iduna could swear she could hear a strange sucking sound coming from there – as if it was siphoning something from the boy.

_A Nightmare Spirit!_ Thought Iduna in terror. She'd heard the stories from back home about an evil spirit, unlike those of the forest, that existed through people's nightmares rather than nature, its sole purpose injecting nightmares into its sleeping victims while snatching away the good dreams for itself to feast upon.

"…_**!"**_ The Nightmare spirit, who had apparently been completely absorbed in tormenting Agnarr, had noticed the intrusion upon seeing the room suddenly brighten. Noticing Iduna and the Will O' Wisp by the door, it let out a menacing hiss as its smoky lower half extended out of Agnarr, letting it stretch out its arm toward Iduna –

\- which was stopped by the fire spirit, which suddenly exploded into a burst of violent crimson flame as it launched itself at its enemy.

Seeing the two spirits fighting each other, Iduna acted on the best idea she could come up with - at the top of her lungs she screamed: "Help! Somebody help! The King is in danger!"

It wasn't long until the nearby Royal Guards heard the commotion and rushed inside to protect their King, but Iduna could see that what transpired before them were out of their wildest imaginations as well.

The two spirits were locked in a fearsome battle, the Will O' Wisp emitting white-hot flames at the Nightmare Spirit, which smothered it with its cloak of shadows while trying to grasp the smaller spirit with its clawed hands. The dark entity's maw opened underneath its hood to release a bloodcurdling shriek that paralyzed Iduna and even had the guards shiver in fear.

"Don't falter! For the King!"

To his credit, the Captain of the Guard held his ground and refused to cower, his sword and shield held high as he bravely charged the fighting spirits. The rest of the guards, inspired by their captain's courage, followed suit, and as one their swords swung with all their might as they hacked into the Nightmare Spirit –

\- and passed through it as if it was nothing but smoke.

"What?!" The shocked gasped belonged to both the soldiers and Iduna. Too late she recalled the words of Yelena when she was younger: _"You can't fight a spirit without magic, little one. No attack, no matter how strong, cannot hope to injure a force of nature if it's not magical."_

_Then how are we supposed to fight that thing?_ Thought Iduna in despair as the Nightmare Spirit whirled around to face the soldiers, apparently noticing the intrusion. Still swatting aside the Will O' Wisp's flames, it let loose a long breath of black smoke toward the guards, and as soon as they drank the substance they fell unconscious to the floor, some of them writhing in place just like Agnarr was doing.

"Stay away from its breaths!" Ordered the Captain, who had managed to get out of the way, with gritted teeth trying not to betray any signs of despair. With half the soldiers incapacitated by a single breath, what was anyone to do against such a monster?

As the Will O' Wisp continued to distract the Nightmare spirit Iduna crawled into a corner of the room to wrack her brain, desperately trying to remember more tales about the demonic being told by her family and friends.

And that's when her mother's words flashed into her memory like a beacon:

"_Do you know what nightmares are not scary, my love? It's because they're only powerful while you're asleep. When you're awake, they can't lay a finger on you!"_

Eye rounding at the revelation, Iduna quickly shot a glance at Agnarr's thrashing form – as she'd thought before, the Nightmare spirit's smoky lower half was connected to him like parasite to host.

She had an idea of how to defeat the dark being, and she knew she only had one chance. She had to do it right.

The Will O' Wisp's flames were powerful and well-controlled, but it wasn't enough to do any perceivable damage to the Nightmare Spirit. Still, it certainly didn't seem to like all the lights, and a single moment of distraction was all Iduna needed to explode out of where she was hiding and shoot past the fighting spirits.

"What are you doing, girl?!" One of the guards that wasn't down shouted in surprise, but Iduna couldn't stop now; the Nightmare Spirit had spotted her approaching Agnarr and was already trying to reach out for her past the Will O' Wisp's attacks.

"ImsorryyourMajestypleaseforgiveme!" Shouted Iduna as she practically leaped onto the King's bed –

\- and drove her small but hardened fist straight into the side of the young King's face.

* * *

_Quoting Shrek: You didn't think Anna got her fighting skills from her father, did you? :)_


	5. Pardon

Agnarr was in hell.

The sight that lay before him HAD to be hell, for how else could one describe a forest with every tree bathed in blood and every path of grass hidden under dead bodies of people he knew?

Everywhere Agnarr turned someone lay dying or dead; turn left and there is a Northuldra, a boy barely older than him, sprawled onto the ground with a sword embedded into his back. Turn right and an Arendellian soldier had been impaled into a tree by a spear.

Unable to bear the sight anymore Agnarr started running – only to stop as he found himself at the edge of a cliff. Instinctively he looked down, and instantly regretted it.

For the only thing he could see down there was his father's broken form, limbs askew and drowning in a pool of his own blood.

"No," whispered the fourteen-year-old boy in horror as he stumbled back, only to fall on his back as his foot got caught on an abandoned Arendellian shield. "Oh, no, no, no, no…"

For a moment he just sat there, refusing to take in the carnage around him, but then he realized that he was leaning on yet another body.

He dared to look back – only to meet the eyes of Mattias, hollow and unseeing as he lay dead before him.

"NO!" Screamed Agnarr as he began running again, wishing for the earth to open up and swallow him or something. This was too much for him, he didn't want this –

"Your Majesty!"

Agnarr started at a girl's voice – very much alive, which was a first – ringing ahead of him, and looked up in shock to see a familiar maroon-hair girl running toward him as fast as she could.

"Iduna? What are you – " He called out in shock, but stopped short as he noticed the look of fear and panic in the younger girl's eyes. And for some reason her little fists were balled as if…... as if?

"WAKE UP!" Screamed Iduna as she pounced on him, and stars exploded behind his eyes as her fist made solid contact with his cheek.

SMACK!

"Wff-"

Then everything went black –

* * *

"What the hell, Iduna?!"

Agnarr found himself yelling as his eyes snapped open, and in an instant he realized that he'd just gone through another nightmare – the most terrible one so far – and had woken up by falling off the bed.

Then he heard a horrible shriek that scraped his eardrums, and hurriedly got to his feet to finally see what was going on in his bedroom.

A massive, pitch-black creature wreathed in smoke was writhing in agony right above him, as if it had just drank poison or something. He wasn't alone as he stared dumbfounded at the creature; many guards were here as well, about half of them knocked out on the floor. Behind the shrieking creature an eerie ball of fire was escaping out of the window… a Will O' Wisp?

And then he saw Iduna, knees on the floor and upper body sprawled on Agnarr's bed, crying her eyes out. Despite the fact that she'd just punched him in the face (he was certain THAT wasn't a dream, since he could still feel a dull ache in his cheek), there was something so vulnerable about the way she looked that he found himself incapable of being angry.

Another agonizing shriek from the dark entity made Agnarr look back up, and to his surprise it was rapidly fading away, the smoke rising up to consume its entire body until it was just… gone, like that, with a final wail of defeat.

For a moment no one spoke a word as everyone was trying to take in the whole situation – except for Iduna, who was still sobbing into his blankets.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" The Captain of the Guard was the first to break the silence, dutifully checking on his King first as his men helped up the ones that had been knocked out – who were, fortunately, waking up as well.

"I am – I think," groaned Agnarr, deciding not to mention how his left cheek hurt. "What had just happened here, Captain? I can't believe I slept through the whole thing."

"We heard this girl crying for help," explained the Captain as he shot a dubious look at Iduna. "And we saw the dark spirit possessing you while fighting a Will O' Wisp that was here until moments ago."

"So that was a Nightmare Spirit," murmured Agnarr, remembering reading about it in the library some time ago. And he thought the spirits he encountered at the Enchanted Forest were dangerous. This… this was something else, something fundamentally _bad_.

"So now it's your turn to answer, girl," continued the Captain, his expression grim as he signaled two of his men forward. "What were you doing in the King's bedroom in the first place? How are you related in this whole situation?"

"I…..." Stammered Iduna as the soldiers took each of her hands and held her in place, and alarm shot up through Agnarr as he saw the Captain interrogating the child.

"You have to answer these questions honestly, child, or I will have to suspect you have been up to something fishy," the man told Iduna sternly, a no-nonsense look in his eyes. "You're already in enough trouble by laying hands on the King, so tell me before its adds up more. What were you doing in here?"

"I-I'm sorry, sir," answered Iduna, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "I couldn't sleep, so I was just walking around the corridors when I heard his Majesty having trouble sleeping. I just went to peek inside and see if… if he was okay, then there was the Nightmare spirit hanging over him…"

"So it was a coincidence," summarized the Captain, looking unconvinced. "And pray tell me, what had gotten into your head to strike his Majesty? Are you aware of the fact that that is a capital offense?"

"T-that was all I could think of!" Iduna blurted out, her tiny body trembling like a baby bird that caught a cold. "I thought since nightmares go away when you're awake, the Nightmare Spirit would be powerless once his Majesty is awake. I… I was so afraid that something worse would happen if I let him sleep more…"

"You seem to know an awful lot about the spirits," began the Captain with a suspicious look. Agnarr tensed as he saw that where this interrogation was headed to, and decided it was time to intervene.

"That's enough, Captain," interrupted the young King with a loud cough, forcing authority into his voice so that he'd sound more like a King and less like a fourteen-year-old who'd just been punched awake from a nightmare. "I praise you and your men's loyalty for coming for me in time of need, but there is no point in blaming the child for what had happened."

"But Sire, surely we can't ignore this issue?" The Captain asked back, looking a little uncomfortable as Iduna shot an indignant look at him from behind; Agnarr had to beat down a chuckle upon seeing that the girl's spirit, at least, had survived the ordeal.

"The only issue I see here is that this girl had alerted you guards upon my danger, and had saved my life in the most ingenious way," he replied cooly as he put a hand on Iduna's shoulder. "So my praise applies for you too, Iduna. Thank you for saving me."

"Y-you're not mad?" Iduna asked, her voice trembling a little again.

"Why should I be?" Agnarr asked back, trying to sound reassuring. "Though I'd ask you to avoid my face the next time I'm assaulted by nightmares. You pack quite a punch in that stature, I've noticed."

The maroon-haired girl blushed in embarrassment at that, and Agnarr couldn't help but crack a smile at that.

"Well, there goes my sleep," remarked Agnarr as he looked out at the window to see a glimpse of dawn at the horizon. "Soldiers, you may return to your posts or back to rest. Iduna, will you have someone bring me my coat?"

"Going out so early, your Majesty?" Asked the Captain with his eyebrows raised, even as he sent his men out of the King's bedroom.

"I feel like seeing how my people greet their mornings," replied Agnarr nonchalantly as he watched Iduna scramble to her feet. "Iduna, I heard that you often have errands that need you in town. You may accompany me, if you're fine with that."

"Oh-oh! Yes, your Majesty!" Sputtered a surprised Iduna, though the edge of her lips betrayed herself as it tugged upwards, and this time Agnarr was unable to hide his chuckle.

He found himself wishing that the little smile on her face would never go away.

* * *

_The Nightmare Spirit is inspired from the Dementors in Harry Potter, btw. I imagine it to look something like a cross between a Dementor and Nocturne from League of Legends :)_


	6. Growing Up Means Adapting

_**-March 1813-**_

The people of Arendelle had always been friendly with the sea, so they hated anything that pollutes it, but where people gather there was bound to be waste that had to go _somewhere_. That's why Arendellians usually didn't go anywhere near the sewers unless they absolutely had to, even though King Agnarr would often highlight the fact that it had to be managed well for the sake of public hygiene.

So the sight of a teenage girl, dressed in a castle staff's outfit and holding a large basket filled with cleaning items, hurrying down the sewers early at dawn was a very abnormal sight indeed.

"Why did I sign up for this again?" Muttered Iduna, now a sixteen-year-old young lady, as she scrunched up her nose at the stench of the dirty water.

Five years of life in Arendelle had changed many things about her. Her hair, once maroon and free-flowing, had now turned to a darker brown and was tied up in a neat bun. Puberty hadn't been very harsh on her, but she'd literally shot up in height recently, her voice had gotten a little huskier, and her body had… developed… in ways that she wasn't sure she was ready to ponder on just yet. Even her skin had changed a little, slightly losing its Northuldra hue and becoming more pale like the Arendellians.

But back to the present, despite her grumblings she knew exactly what she was here for; and she was here this early because what she was about to do wasn't for any Arendellian eyes to see.

"Hello? Are you still here?" Iduna called out, and within a moment her eyes lit up in delight to see her old friends, the Sylph and the Will O' Wisp, waiting for her deep inside the sewers. The Sylph's petal face was distorted with disgust at the sight, but was still loyal enough to be there for her; that was really nice.

But it weren't these two she had called out to, and when there were no other answers she paused for a moment before –

_AH-AH-AH-AHH – _

One soft call is enough this time; Iduna was sure the spirit was down here somewhere, since she'd promised it to meet here the next time she came.

_Splosh!_

Foam began rising out of the dirty water flowing in front of her, and Iduna had to struggle to be polite and not clip her nose as a large blob of sludge dislodged itself from the sewage to plop down onto the ground.

Pity swelled up in Iduna as she looked at the disgraced water spirit; her thoughts wandered back to Water back in the Forest, its majestic grace and beauty reflected in its clear body and aquamarine eyes as it galloped on the riversides of her old home.

Compared to that this glob of sewage looked downright miserable, occasionally bubbling muck as it looked up at Iduna with foggy, unseeing eyes as if wailing for help.

"Okay, time to get you cleaned," huffed the teenage girl as she rolled up her sleeves with renewed vigor.

* * *

It turned that cleansing a defiled spirit was harder than she thought.

Iduna wasn't very big on math or science, and she soon discovered that to undo the pollution of water about the volume of a small tub it took a ridiculous amount of fresh water in comparison. She had to take three trips to the nearest stream to haul over some more clean water, and by the time she was finished the sun was peeking out from the horizon, sending a few rays of light even into the dark sewers.

"There, all done!" Clapped Iduna triumphantly as she and her two spirit friends gathered around the renewed water spirit. "Are you in a better mood now?"

There was a delighted gurgle as the water spirit rose up, its sickly green-purple hue now reformed into the clearest turquoise. Iduna chuckled, glad to see the results of her good deed.

Then it did something unexpected; its form crumbled and began reassembling itself. Before a surprised Iduna could ask what it was doing, its had changed from a mere mass of water into something more… human.

A human that had been buried deep within her memories.

"C-Chief?" Gasped Iduna in shock as the image of the Northuldra leader rose before her. The water spirit had transformed into a complete replication of him, even his expression of gentle kindness sort of visible on his face.

"Why, thank you, little one." The Chief's voice was a little gurgled by all the water, but besides that it was just as how Iduna had remembered it. It was his habit to say those exact words, when children including herself would do him little favors every now and then.

"You're a Morphling," whispered Iduna in amazement, remembering how her tribespeople had often described water as having memories. Was the spirit mirroring a piece of her memory?

Having delivered its thanks through the Chief's voice, the Morphling phased again into a shapeless current of water, plunging into the dirty sewers again and followed it downstream. This time, however, its clean, sparkling hue could be clearly seen above the pollution, untainted and pure.

"… you're welcome," Iduna managed to answer a little too late, though that didn't stop the smile from crawling up her face as she took in the fact that another spirit had joined her small circle of friends.

* * *

On her way back to the castle, Iduna couldn't help but think about how much things have changed during the five years she had spent in Arendelle. When the King had first 'hired' her, she felt lost and homesick even when she was fed and clothed better than she had ever been before. She was just an outcast, a misplaced boulder on a stone wall.

Now? She felt… _content_. Sure, she still missed the forest and her people, but now it felt like a dull ache that would come back every now and then, instead of an acute pain that would constantly haunt her day and night. And living in Arendelle and among its people now consoled her in ways that it didn't before.

The adaptation made her playful side come out as well; when she had alone time she would spend it playing with her spirit friends, and the rest of her free time was usually spent running around in town getting to know people. She was also more amiable than before, and everyone certainly enjoyed her company more because of it.

All thanks to King Agnarr. The King, who had accepted her into his castle purely out of goodwill. The King, who had defended her when she was accused of sneaking into his room (which she had, of course, but without any bad intentions). The King, who always wanted her to feel more at ease and be healed from whatever wounds she harbored within, though he was too much of a gentleman to try and find out what it was.

The trail of thought she was on made Iduna's heart flutter for some reason, which confused her. Maybe she was just tired from getting up early and needed rest…

"Iduna! I didn't expect to see you out this early."

Oh. _Oh_. Of course; she'd forgotten today was Tuesday; Agnarr would always be out in town at this time, gathering children around for stories.

He had started this particular routine a couple of years ago; Iduna had noticed that the last five years had changed him as well, both physically and spiritually.

Puberty, at least in the bodily sense, had struck him like a battering ram; he had almost doubled in height since she first saw him, his voice had gotten much deeper recently, his hair had been trimmed short and tidy, and a slight hint of hair could be seen around his chin and mouth.

But by now Iduna knew him enough to know that the greater changes happened in his heart; the fourteen-year-old boy that she had Wind save in the woods, uncertain and anxious to fill his role as King, had been replaced by a more relaxed, confident nineteen-year-old _man_.

This little outing he was having right now was one proof of such change; Iduna had heard that his father, King Runeard, was all about authority; royalty shouldn't be too close to commoners so that they won't be respected. The doctrine, as well as many others, had been pressing on Agnarr's mind for some years. Now he was acting on his own principles.

"No one should know about his people better than the King," Agnarr had occasionally told her during mild conversations. "There's no greater duty for me than to see to the needs of the citizens; they are the Heart of Arendelle."

Iduna didn't know a lot about politics, but she certainly found his beliefs more likable than his father's. Apparently, the Parliament agreed with her as well; Runeard was constantly locked in a power game with them to strengthen the Crown's authority, and they were glad of the fact that his son seemed less eager about it.

"You're in luck; we were just about to get started on your favorite story," Agnarr's chuckle snapped Iduna back into reality as she bowed politely to the King before waving at the enthusiastic group of children surrounding him.

"You mean the one in which a French girl gets locked up in a Beast's castle in her father's stead?" Asked Iduna with a raised eyebrow. "Not the most educational material for kids, your Majesty."

"No, I meant your _other_ favorite, the one about Sultans and Djinns and flying carpets far south," laughed Agnarr as he beckoned her over. "Why don't you come and join me? The kids certainly won't mind a different storyteller for a change, and you have vivid ways of describing things."

"I'd love to, if it weren't for the fact that I've just been back from cleaning the sewers and I smell like a dead reindeer," replied Iduna, suddenly self-conscious of the fact that she was probably stinking in front of the King. What was she THINKING?

"Since when were you deterred by such things?" Asked Agnarr, his yellow-green eyes twinkling with mischief. "I still remember the day I found you hanging upside down on a tree right after taking a dip in the stream. You practically begged me to teach you how to read, which I was glad to do so, by the way."

"Your Majesty, that was two years ago!" Protested Iduna in embarrassment as the children burst into laughter around them. Still, a small part of her was pleased to know that he remembered that day as well.

Seeing Iduna still hesitating, Agnarr let out an amused sigh as he got up and strode over to her, and the servant girl almost backed away in alarm as he sniffed the air a couple times as he got near.

"Oh, you don't stink," assured Agnarr, noticing her dismay. "Besides, even if you did, it would be proof that you are a hardworking citizen of Arendelle, someone to be respected. Won't you honor the children here by joining us?"

Iduna couldn't help but smile. He was a King, not to mention her direct employer. He didn't have to ask her nicely as if they were equals, yet he did. And there was just _something_ about the way he asked that she found so… _endearing_, for reasons she couldn't fathom herself.

"Well… okay," she found herself answering as she followed the smiling Agnarr, letting the excited children surround her. "Cuddle close, scooch in, children, and let me start this story with a song:

_**Oh, imagine a land, it's a faraway place**_

_**Where the caravan camels roam…**_

* * *

_So time flies, now Iduna is sixteen and Agnarr is nineteen. Since Frozen is put in a more modern setting compared to most other Disney classics, I like to think that they are told in these times as stories, and Iduna has a taste for Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin._

_The new water spirit was inspired from the water elementals from World of Warcraft and Morphling from DotA, btw :)_


	7. Flying Stone

Compared to when he had first ascended to the throne Agnarr's days were much more bearable now, and he had especially enjoyed today.

He'd been right to assume that Iduna was a great storyteller, and the children absolutely loved the way she told the classic story of the magic lamp, occasionally highlighting it with her beautiful singing. He'd read the particular book at least four times, and even HE found it rapturing.

Who was he kidding, all things aside, he genuinely enjoyed her company whenever it was available. It wasn't just that her, Kai and Gerda were the only ones in the castle that were around his age. Ever since he first brought her to the castle he wanted to see her feel at home here, and now that he'd succeeded he could almost embrace himself for his foresight.

"She's quite something, isn't she?" He remarked Kai as they gazed out at the city spread out before them from the terrace, watching Iduna all but skip towards the castle from her evening errand; Gerda had explained that she'd gone out to get seeds to replenish the castle garden.

"Everyone seems to agree to that, sire," replied Kai with a grin. Indeed, they could well see many townspeople gathered around the young girl for friendly conversations; she was simply so easy to love, a fact that she was apparently oblivious to.

"It's reassuring to see her so accepted," chuckled Agnarr, feeling a little proud as he viewed the girl that he invited into Arendelle. "It's proof that Arendelle is open-minded and hospitable, and a King could never ask for a better quality for his people."

"You deserve some credit, your Majesty," added Kai with a knowing glint in his eye. "You helped her adapt to this new life smoothly, and it brought out the best of her. Now she's bringing out the best of everyone around her – including you."

Agnarr didn't answer this time, though Kai probably knew he agreed. The girl's lively presence had a heartwarming effect of everyone in the castle – as if a second sun was shining within it – and the King himself was no exception.

Before Iduna had entered his life, Agnarr's whole being was dedicated to be a good King, and any stress or problems that came along the way were concealed or pretended that they didn't exist. Of course, he was still striving to do that now, but being around her had taught him to take a more relaxed and long-termed approach to his duties.

His memory flashed back to that eventful ruckus with the Nightmare Spirit. After that his nights were relatively more peaceful, though the nightmares or the strange song never completely left his sleep. The wounds of the past may not go away, but now he had other good things in life to look forward too.

Iduna had thanked him several times before, telling him that he had changed her life for the better, teaching her grace, maturity and acceptance. In truth _she_ had changed _him_ even more, and he was shamed of being too embarrassed to tell her that.

"Maybe someday…" murmured the young King as he continued to look at Iduna planting the new seeds in the garden, humming and prancing in mirth as she took in nature's blessing with every part of her being. He had observed her often enough to know that she had always loved nature.

He could go on observing her all day, were it not for the heap of royal duties waiting for him back inside which Kai had innocently pointed out.

He couldn't help but glare a little at his to-be-steward. It seemed that he wouldn't be sleeping much tonight.

* * *

It has been awhile since Iduna had last been to the rooftop.

Tonight, however, she wasn't there to call upon the spirits; besides the fact that she already had three spirits in her life, she just didn't feel _lonely_ enough to do it.

Rather, she spent the time reflecting on today. She had really enjoyed telling stories to the children, and could understand why Agnarr was so determined to cram the routine into his already busy schedule. But in the meantime she'd also been very conscious of the fact that the King had been sitting beside her was watching her read too, and she still had no idea why it got her worked up so much. They've known each other for years, but this sort of thing was new for her.

Oh well, no point of dwelling on things she couldn't understand; maybe she could talk to Gerda about this later. What she did understand was that if she didn't turn in soon she'd probably wake up late, and the staff supervisors certainly WON'T like that.

She had just gotten back inside and into the dark corridors when her sensitive ears caught the sound of footsteps – heavier than hers, probably that of a man, but muffled as if its owner was creeping rather than walking.

Someone in the castle didn't want to be caught sneaking around.

Iduna quietly followed the source of the sound with a bad feeling in her gut. It wasn't long before she caught up to it, in a long corridor on the upper floor: a heavyset man she'd never seen before, draped completely in a cloak and his back turned on her.

_An intruder!_

Iduna's mental shout came a moment earlier than that of a voiced one, which was unfortunately a moment too late; for before she could alert the guards a rough hand suddenly shot out from behind and covered her mouth, and at the same time she felt the cold touch of a knife on her back.

"Oh no, not a sound, little girl," hissed the second man into her ear, pressing the knife a little harder. "We won't be here long, and we don't want any trouble. So be a dear and stay still, or you won't live to see the sunrise."

Fear crept up on Iduna, not just for herself but for the people in the castle. She didn't know if these two men were just robbers or assassins, but both options meant trouble for the kingdom and the King.

She forced herself to relax, letting her tense muscles uncoil.

"Good girl," chuckled her assailant quietly, pleased that she was complying.

Iduna bit his fingers with all her might.

Completely taken off-guard, the man let out a short cry as he released Iduna, and she had to bite back her pain as the knife dug a little into her back in the process – she had something better to do.

Swinging around to face the intruder, Iduna slammed her fist into the man's face, letting out a satisfied huff as he fell backward with a solid _thud_.

Turning back to distance herself from the attacker and finally call for help, Iduna's eyes widened with alarm to see that the first man had turned back upon the little commotion and was right in front of her. It was too late to dodge –

_SLAM!_

"-" Whatever sound Iduna was trying to make died in her throat as a strong knee drove itself straight into her stomach, winding the breath out of her as she fell on her knees wheezing. The assailants didn't give her a second chance at retaliation, and a harsh blow to the back of her head sent her straight to the floor.

"Alright, you proved to be tougher than I thought," growled the second man, his words a little distorted as he handled his displaced chin with one hand while brandishing his knife with the other. "Well, it's your blood to spill. Say goodnight, girl."

Iduna tried to move or scream, but found herself unable to do neither. She was going to die here, with no way to stop these two men from doing something even more horrible. What if they weren't just thieves? What if they wanted to harm more people? Harm the K-

_NO!_

At that moment, as if something had answered Iduna's mental scream, three windows of the corridor suddenly smashed into smithereens.

"What the-" the men's cries were drowned out by three sets of unearthly shrieks, and Iduna barely raised her head to see that the new intruders were… flying?

The three figures floating above their heads looked like a combination of bat and beast, except they made out of stone. Iduna had always assumed that earth spirits were heavyweight and slow like the ones in her home, but now, looking at the sharp and lean shapes of the newcomers, she had to admit she was wrong.

"Gargoyles?! What the hell are they doing here?" Hissed the man who had punched her in the guts, a look of horror on his face upon noticing that the three living sculptures had the three humans surrounded.

As terrible as her shape was, hope dared to flare in Iduna's still-mangled guts. She had no idea why the earth spirits were here when she hadn't even called for any, but it certainly felt like they were here to help. And by the sounds of metallic steps clashing against the floor… guards were on their way as well.

"Shit!" Cursed the man with the knife, deciding on a foolish route of escaping – he rushed forward and swung his knife at the gargoyles, probably hoping to make them back away just enough for them to make a break for it.

What did break was the knife as it bounced off the earth spirit's stone skin harmlessly. Despite herself Iduna suppressed a groan; these guys didn't know anything about spirits, did they?

While the sudden attack was no threat, the gargoyle apparently had recognized it as an act of enmity, and swiftly reacted – its claws plunging into the offender's shoulder and coming out through the back.

The incoming guards were greeted with a terrible scream from the intruder as blood splattered onto Iduna's face – and suddenly she was eleven again, staring in horror around her as Arendellians and Northuldra hacked at each other all around her.

Except this time it was too one-sided to be called a battle; the angry gargoyles swept in to rip and tear that the assailants with such fierceness that even the Royal Guards couldn't dare interfere; one tried to get too close and was thrown into a wall with one kick from the earth spirit's stone legs.

And Iduna could do nothing but watch on in horror as the situation sunk in; for whatever reason they came, they didn't tell between friend and enemy – they were simply attacking everything in sight.

"What's going on? Is that – IDUNA!"

Oh, no. _Oh, no, no, no, NO!_

Through her hazy vision Iduna could make out Agnarr's lean shape as he all but rolled down the corridor, and the guards didn't even have the time to stop him before he rushed right past them and straight towards her.

Unfortunately this angered the gargoyles as well, and one of them lashed out at the King with his claws. Agnarr barely managed to slide under the attack and reach his goal, scooping up Iduna in his arms in one move – even in her half-conscious state, Iduna couldn't help but flush.

But just like she had moments ago, he was not prepared for a second blow.

_SLAM!_

Iduna felt a massive stone wing smash into Agnarr's back with brutal force, and the next moment she was flying through the air for a split second before she fell backfirst on the floor with a grunt. Every part of her body HURT from the impact –

\- but the pain was nothing to how her heart wrenched upon seeing Agnarr's body slam into the nearby wall with a sickening _crack_, and there he say unconscious, looking just like the thirteen-year-old boy that Iduna had held in her arms five years ago.

Except this time there was nothing she could do to save him.

"No…" the word heaved itself out of Iduna's mouth as she felt her consciousness slip and washed away by the gargoyle's screams and the shouts of guards.

And before everything went black, she thought she saw the tell-tale shape of petals being carried by the wind swirling around the enraged earth spirits…

* * *

_Technically I doubt gargoyles can count as spirits, but there were very few earth spirit candidates available, so there :/_


	8. Fire Has Foresight

Agnarr came to and found himself in the infirmary.

"Is everyone okay?" Was the first words out of the King's mouth as he tried to sit up, only to wince as pain exploded in his skull and chest. Managing to look down as he put one hand on his forehead, he noticed that both had been bandaged.

"With all due respect, your Majesty, the only one who isn't okay is you," replied Kai's voice from the side, and Agnarr turned his head to see the page standing beside his infirmary bed with thunder on his face. "You hit your head pretty hard and cracked a rib, and for what? Please tell me the guards were deluded to think that you'd charge a bunch of gargoyles. You could've been killed!"

"Don't remind me," groaned Agnarr; lectures could wait. "How long was I out? I need to know the whole situation."

"Only a single day, thank goodness," Kai quickly answered the first question before hesitating on the second. "From what I heard from the Captain none of the guards are seriously injured, but it seems that a couple of men had breached the castle at night – for thieving, presumably. The gargoyles didn't leave either of them alive for interrogation, unfortunately."

Agnarr grimaced at that; he'd vaguely seen the two men being mauled…

"What happened to the gargoyles?" He asked.

"After you were knocked out they tried to attack the guards too," replied Kai gravely. "But before that could happen something calmed them down, and they simply… left. The Captain couldn't explain why."

Agnarr frowned, trying to recall how the earth spirits were behaving, but in truth he hadn't been paying much attention to them. His whole attention had been focused on saving -

"Iduna!" Gasped the young King as he remembered what had made him act so recklessly in the first place. "She was there, in pain! I was trying to get her – "

"Which succeeded, your Majesty, rest assured," replied Kai calmly, as if he'd expected the outburst. "It appears that she ran into the invaders first. She's got a slight knife wound in the back, but it didn't cut beneath the skin and she'll recover. In fact she's sleeping on the bed over there, if you'd care to see."

Agnarr cared very much to see, so he turned his head the opposite way to confirm his words. Sure enough Iduna lay there, looking worse for the wear but at least wasn't bandaged anywhere like him. Still, the sight of the usually energetic and sunny girl lying unconscious like this in the infirmary tore at his heart, and he had to fight back the tears that threatened to well up before turning back to Kai.

"As much as I love that child, she always seems to be in the center of trouble – especially when violent spirits are involved." It sounded like Kai's little remark was meant to be amusing, but Agnarr only frowned at that, getting a feeling that the words should remind him of something that he couldn't.

"I hate it when people get hurt without doing anything wrong, and she seems to get that a lot," he managed to croak out after a moment. "She deserves better. I… I owe her that much."

"Well, you can tell her all about that when she wakes up," chuckled Kai as he turned to leave. "But it's night again, and you need rest; God knows you've been needing it anyway. We can't have our beloved King bedridden for too long, can we?"

"I suppose not," Agnarr mock-growled at his friend as he left, and soon fell into slumber himself, losing himself falling into dreams of whistling winds, flying boulders, ice creeping across the fjord, and that mysterious song which still haunted his every sleeping moment…

* * *

"_I still have a hard time getting how water has memories, Yelena."_

"_Well, nature is hard to understand, Iduna. You'll know better when you're older."_

"_If water can remember, what can the others do?"_

"_You should ask the Chief for that; he knows much better than I do. Though I think I've heard him say that as waters can tell us about the past, fire can tell us about the future."_

"_Really? Wow! I'd like to know how that's possible."_

"_Me too, little one. Me too. I wish Fire would be able to tell me if this whole dam business is a good idea…"_

* * *

"_The spirits seem to be very fond of you, Iduna."_

"_Oh, hello, Chief! I thought you were headed for a meeting with the Arendellians!"_

"_I was just about to leave. Do be careful while you let Wind do that to you; it is quite the troublemaker, and spirits usually don't understand human fragility that well."_

"_Wind won't let anything happen to me, nor will any other spirits. They're all my friends!"_

"_I think that's what makes you special, Iduna."_

"_Me? I'm nothing special."_

"_I don't see what isn't special about someone who is unconditionally loves by all spirits, little one. You call out to the spirits, and they answer – just like the ancient Spiritcallers of old."_

"_A Spiritcaller? What's that?"_

"_A tradition of ours that went extinct a long time ago – or so I had thought. Well, I had best be going, Iduna. Have fun."_

"_Goodbye, Chief!"_

* * *

Iduna's eyes opened into darkness, and she let out a small gasp as she took in what had just happened. Starting with the present: It was in the middle of the night, she was lying in an infirmary bunk, and it hurt where that wretched intruder had put his knife into her back…

Suddenly remembering how Agnarr had been struck, Iduna hastily rolled out of bed, wincing from numerous aches in the process. To her surprise she found the King sleeping in a singled-out bed close to her, his head and chest bandaged with marks of blood here and there. Horror swept over her as she realized that the King had been wounded trying to save her.

She was spared from drowning in self-loathing upon noticing that the room suddenly seemed brighter – Did someone light a candle? Looking around she saw that there was no one in the room but herself and Agnarr…

Then she jumped in surprise to see a familiar ball of flame float through the window, its fiery hue bluish with worry; she learned through experience that the Will O' Wisp could portray its emotion by the color of its fire.

"It's you!" She whispered as the fire spirit swirled around her, its color changing into a relieved orange. "These days you always seem to know where to find me."

Then she remembered her dream she just had… or was it even a dream? She had dreamed of her memories at home before, but this was different – almost like a vision. Did they hold special meanings? Was it important that it chose this moment to come to her?

"Fire can foresee," breathed Iduna, looking at the fire spirit hovering before her. "Does that mean you can show me the future? Can I see what will happen to Arendelle?"

The Will O' Wisp's glow dimmed, as if contemplating on the idea. Then, without a warning, it suddenly moved a little away from Iduna as its flames took a stark crimson hue, growing larger and larger until it lit up the entire infirmary like a miniature sun.

"The shadows…!" Gasped Iduna as she saw the shadows created by the light dancing on the walls. Iduna didn't need magical knowledge to know that they weren't ordinary shadows; they were forming themselves into distorted but recognizable shapes, one of which the noticed was the castle of Arendelle.

Around the castle there were shadows of many people, of course. She thought she spotted smaller shadows that resembled the Sylph, the Will O' Wisp and the Morphling… but then her attention moved further away from the castle, and her eyes widened at the larger, more menacing shapes.

It came in all shapes and sizes; the Nightmare Spirit, shrouded in its cloak, a faceless knight with a shapeless sword, a dragon larger than the castle… so many different spirits, so fearsome that the gargoyles that had wreaked havoc on the castle looked like little bats in comparison.

And all their gazes were focused on a small human shape near the castle – her own shadow.

Iduna's heart plummeted to her feet as she remembered what the Chief had referred her to: Spiritcaller.

If that was what she thought it was, and she was like that, did that mean she will end up bringing them all here? To Arendelle?

Iduna thought about all those nights when she would call out to the spirits; it didn't really have a special meaning to her, it was just done in hopes that anyone might hear and come to be her friends like they would back in the forest. Most of them had gone unanswered… but what if they weren't? What if spirits very far away were hearing them, following them all the way here?

What had she DONE?

The despair that struck Iduna was a hundred times worse than that fateful day, when she had returned home only to find it sealed against her – she wouldn't have believed that it was possible. At least then she had suffered alone; if what the fire showed her was true, she had put everyone in Arendelle in danger, the very people who had given her a new home, a new life, a new purpose.

Iduna hadn't realized how it all meant to her until now, when she knew that she could very easily lose all of that because of what she'd done.

She turned to look at Agnarr, still asleep. It has been awhile since she last saw him dreaming, and she could see that it wasn't one of his better days; he wasn't thrashing, but the frowning and murmuring was enough for her to know that it wasn't really a good dream. And why would he have one, when she had made him nearly kill himself?

Over the years she had seen the young King struggle to fit into the role of King, striving to prove everyone that even in youth he could lead Arendelle right – even if that meant shoving all signs of weaknesses under a mask of confidence and reliability. Iduna was one of the very few people who had seen that mask crack, showing all that suppressed vulnerability within.

And she had felt a knot form in her chest every single time it did, as if his pain was her own and she desperately wanted to do something about it.

It was here and now, as she looked down on the wounded and sleeping boy in front of her, that she realized she couldn't deny it any longer – the heart of this insignificant Northuldra girl now belonged to the King of Arendelle.

And she was putting him in danger just by being here.

"What do I do…?" Iduna whispered to no one in particular as her legs gave out under her, and for some time there were no sounds other than the girl's sobs coming from the quiet infirmary.

The shadows still danced around the flame, but they were shapeless now and offered no answers.

* * *

_Hey, if water has memories, I think it's okay for fire to offer future sight of sorts :)_

_Judging from Yelena's looks from Frozen 2, I suppose that at Runeard's death she was in her 30s or 40s._

_It wasn't intentional, but as I wrote this I was reminded of Elsa's_ 'the giant sensed me, it might come back again I don't wanna put anyone at risk' _moment. She's her mother's daughter alright..._


	9. The Lost King

It took less than three seconds after waking up for Agnarr to notice that something was amiss.

As far as he remembered only he and Iduna were staying at the infirmary through the night, so why were there so many voices in here now, many of them distressed?

His fears were answered immediately as he stiffly turned his head left – and found Iduna's bed deserted.

"Where is she?!" He cried as he all but rolled out of bed, glad to notice that he could actually move without hurting too much. Nobody in the room, servants and guards alike, seemed like they had an answer – until Kai came over to him with a grim expression.

"She left a note for you, it seems," he reported as he handed a piece of paper to Agnarr. The young King's eyes widened as he took in the simple message written there by Iduna's delicate handwriting:

_I'm sorry for putting everyone at risk. I must leave, for Arendelle's sake. Forgive me._

* * *

A search party was immediately assembled, led by Agnarr himself; he practically had to throw Kai and Gerda off him for it. Iduna hadn't taken a horse on her departure, and March was still too cold for a sixteen-year-old girl to be wandering around on foot.

The guards didn't expect the young King's sudden zeal; he wasn't usually this aggressive in anything he does, and were naturally not prepared for him to ride on way ahead of them as they left for the North patrol – all the way to the Black Mountains.

Except he was new to being reckless, and when you're new you're bound to get it wrong – like finding himself alone in the woods without a sense of where in the world he was.

"Brilliant," groaned Agnarr as his forehead met the back of his horse. By now he was blisteringly aware that he was being stupid; he shouldn't have shot forward like that. He didn't even know which way Iduna went to, and even if he did she had a big head start; even on horseback it was a doomed search.

But that made him only more desperate to find her, for reasons he was only beginning to understand now.

_**Again you're gone, off on a different path than mine**_

_**I'm left behind, wondering if I should follow…**_

Before he knew it he was singing softly with no purpose in particular.

_**You had to go, and of course it's always fine**_

_**I probably could catch up with you tomorrow**_

_A guy could sound hopeful_, he thought inwardly with a mental snort, but he continued anyway:

_**But is this what it feels like to be growing apart?**_

_**When did I become the one who's always chasing your heart?**_

There, he finally admitted why he was being so desperate; Iduna had left, and she had taken his heart with it.

_**Now I turn around and find I am lost in the woods**_

_**North is south, right is left when you're gone**_

_**I'm the one who sees you home, but now I'm lost in the woods**_

_**And I don't know what path you are on; I'm lost in the woods**_

Feeling a little better now that he's gushed his feelings out, he almost laughed at himself for singing alone in the woods with no audience – except he wasn't done yet.

_**Up till now, the next step was a question of how**_

_**I never thought it was a question of whether**_

_**Who am I if I'm not your guy?**_

_**Where am I if we're not together, forever – **_

Since when had the younger girl taken up such a large place in his life? He had no idea, but one thing was for sure: whenever it happened, the change she evoked in him was irrevocable.

_**Now I know you're my true north, 'cause I'm lost in the woods**_

_**Up is down, day is night when you're not there**_

_**You're my only landmark, so I'm lost in the woods**_

_**Wondering if you still care…**_

What tormented him the most was that he had no idea WHY she left; her note hadn't been the most explanatory. Did she know about how he felt for her? Did it drive her away from him?

_**But I'll wait for a sign**_

_**That I'm your path, 'cause you are mine**_

_**Till then, I'm lost in the woods - **_

Howling out the last of the verse he found himself racing through the woods again, telling himself that he was being stupid again and announcing that he didn't care simultaneously.

_**I'm lost in the woods**_

He had to get out of here. His head was too messed up with thoughts. He needed escape –

_**I'm lost in the woods…**_

As soon as the last of the song was out of his mouth his horse burst through the brush in front of them – and found themselves out of the woods.

"Okay… now where is this?" Muttered Agnarr as his horse trotted into a large clearing – probably the midst of the Black Mountains. The stone ground was mostly covered with lichen, he could see geysers spouting from here and there, and no trace of any possibility of a human population.

"What a strange place…" The young King continued to talk to himself as he reached the edge of the clearing, where he could see round boulders dotting the ground – a little _too_ round to be natural.

"I don't think I'll be surprised if these rocks are spirits too," Agnarr laughed dryly to himself, remembering the mess he'd been through with spirits just two days ago – which probably had something to do with why Iduna felt forced to leave the kingdom…

"We're not spirits!"

Agnarr nearly fell off his horse in surprise as a gravelly voice that wasn't definitely his rang out. Wildly looking around for its source, his eyes almost fell out of their sockets upon seeing that the rocks he had commented upon just now were _moving_.

"Trolls…..?" The young King gasped in amazement as the moving boulders gathered around him, opening up to reveal little people with stone skin, dressed in moss and decorated in gems.

"What business does the King of Arendelle have in this desolate place, your Majesty?"

One of the trolls stepped forward, apparently their leader; he looked fairly older than the rest, and donned a cloak of pink leaves that trailed behind his short body. Despite the somewhat humorous exterior, there was no denying the wisdom and magic that lay in those eyes.

"So you know who I am," said Agnarr as he dismounted and got to one knee, levelling his eyes with the old troll.

"I do, as well as what you are looking for," he replied nonchalantly, though his expression was dead serious. "And I must beg pardon to disappoint you; she did not pass this way. There are other places that her journeys must lead to before she will get to meet us, if ever."

"If she never came here, how do you know her?" Agnarr asked, even as he felt his heart fall upon hearing that he came all the way here for nothing.

"Waves of change has been forming over Arendelle for the last five years," answered the old troll a-matter-of-factly. "I had both the will and the methods to figure out what was causing it."

"You're saying that Iduna will change Arendelle?" Agnarr asked tensely. Of course he knew that Iduna was making changes to everyone in the kingdom including himself, but he had a feeling that they were talking about different kinds of _change_.

"Change has long begun, it has just taken this long for her to realize it," replied the troll gravely. "Her path is laced with fear, for both you and for Arendelle. But she knows that this is a journey that she must take, to figure out her place in this world."

"Her place is with Arendelle," asserted Agnarr flatly, almost adding _and with me_ at the end.

"That is not up to you to decide," countered the old troll, though there was no ill will in his tone. "And if she indeed is, it's up to her to rediscover that fact."

"Why is this so important that she'd have to leave without telling anyone? Without telling me?" Asked Agnarr, though the question wasn't exactly directed at the troll. "She was so loved by the kingdom. She knew we would have supported her no matter what."

"Perhaps that is what made her leave," stated the old troll, though his voice had grown softer now. "As I've said, this is _her_ lifetime's journey. You, your Majesty, must meanwhile go on yours."

"My journey?" Asked a puzzled Agnarr.

"_Your_ place is with Arendelle, that is for certain," replied the troll, to which the young King nodded. "And Arendelle must be protected; it has come under notice of powers far greater than you or me, and not all forces are friendly to mortals."

Agnarr felt a cold knot form in his stomach. He couldn't understand everything he was told, but it seemed that he'd just been foretold of dangers headed for Arendelle. If that was the case, some good may come out of Iduna's departure; at least she was free from harm, like she'd been with the gargoyles days ago.

"Then I will heed your warning," sighed Agnarr with a heavy heart as he prepared to leave. "Arendelle thanks you, wise one. Will you grant me the privilege of knowing your name?"

"Pabbie is what folks call me," replied the old troll as he bowed as best as he can with his short stature. "Before you depart, your Majesty, there is something that we would like you to keep."

"What is it?" Agnarr asked as Pabbie produced two things from within his cloak: a small blue gem and what looked like a sharp dagger made of obsidian.

"This water crystal will lead you back to Arendelle," explained the old troll. "As for the dagger, it is troll-made and thus enchanted; if you ever have to fight angry spirits again, you should know that they cannot be harmed with anything but magic. May you never have to use it, your Majesty. Safe travels!"

"Thank you," breathed Agnarr, though as he rode back into the woods he couldn't shake off the feeling that the old troll's words sounded like a self-fulfilling prophecy rather than a mere warning.

_What does fate have in store for us this time?_

* * *

_Why does the idea of Agnarr singing Lost in the Woods amuse me so much? :)_

_My own theory of how Agnarr knew about the trolls in Frozen 1. You might want to remember the obsidian dagger Pabbie gave him, I didn't put that scene there for nothing._


	10. Guardian of the Forest

_While I've been working on this fic, I realized that by the time Iduna had left Agnarr because she loved him she was acting just like Elsa - like mother, like daughter, I guess. This chapter will feature a character you probably wouldn't have expected in a Frozen fic, so enjoy :)_

* * *

Agnarr successfully managed to rejoin the North patrol before long, regretfully calling off the search, though he said nothing about what he had seen in the Black Mountains. The other patrols were no luckier, and they were baffled by how an injured sixteen-year-old girl on foot could outrun a patrol on horseback, even with a night's head start.

What they didn't know was that Iduna didn't stick to the roads, nor did she have to; she was born Northuldra and thus used to the wilderness, and the last five years in Arendelle hadn't taken it away. She also had spirits by her side that were familiar with the entire area, and they proved to be excellent guards.

* * *

_**-April 1813-**_

One reason Iduna could move so quickly was that she had an idea of where she should be going.

The night she left the kingdom with nothing but her satchel and her favorite scarf, she first went to the library (giving silent thanks to Agnarr for teaching her how to read), grabbing random books that would give her some information about magic of any kind, especially about spirits.

To her surprise she quickly found a book that contained information about two mysterious kingdoms down south, where humanfolk lived in a strange coexistence with a whole nation of forest spirits and fair folk. For a girl who wanted answers about her relationship with spirits, it seemed like a good place to start off.

So, after a month of restless travel, only accompanied by her friends the Sylph (her guide during daytime), the Will O' Wisp (who'd light up her night and help her out with all things needing fire in general) and the Morphling (who'd guide her to the nearest stream or lake), she stood at last at the edge of the Moors.

It bothered Iduna to think that she still knew very little about this mysterious place even as she stood right in front of it; it bordered itself right next to a kingdom of humanfolk, but they were distrustful of whatever lived in there and refused to share information with her; a good thing her spirit friends decided not to show themselves to them.

"Well, here goes nothing," she breathed to the Sylph and the Will O' Wisp – the Morphling wasn't here, since there was no mass of water nearby to manifest itself. She wasn't sure if she was meant to be here, or if it held any answers for her, but she knew that she had to take this step to know for sure.

She took a step, then step again. Her feet touched the moss-covered earth, and she found herself within the Moors.

Though she was keeping spirits for company Iduna didn't know a thing about magic, but even she could feel that the entire atmosphere of the lush woods was thick with magic; it hung in the air, in the roots of the trees, in the very earth itself. Though she had lived two thirds of her life in an Enchanted Forest, Iduna had never felt so much….. _energy_ coursing through a single place.

She was so absorbed in the feeling of it all that she noticed the sound of booming footsteps way after the Sylph and the Will O' Wisp began bristling in alarm; the tremors she felt told her that they were too loud to belong to a human.

Iduna's eyes widened as two figures stepped out of from the shades to face them, and they most definitely _weren't_ human. Both of them were essentially walking trees, one of them lean and the other a hulking brute, and they were twice her height and towered over her ominously. Their horned faces were shaped like skulls, and their empty eyesockets betrayed no emotions as the leaner one pointed its spear at her while the bulkier one bashed its wood hammer against the ground threateningly.

"Please, wait! We don't mean any harm!" Stammered Iduna as she backed away from the forest spirits, even as her grip on her spear tightened in self-defense. The Sylph and the Will O' Wisp also bristled, ready to protect her if needed. If the armed titans had understood her they didn't show it, continuing to advance towards her with raised weapons –

"Stop!"

The voice that rang out from nowhere was young, but commanded authority – enough for the forest guardians to snap straight up at once and step aside.

Behind them approached a much smaller figure (though she was still a head taller than Iduna), that of a girl looking not much older than Iduna. Two long, black horns protruded from the back of her head, and Iduna's breath caught as two gigantic wings, each bigger than her entire torso, unfolded from behind her.

"She's only a girl; you didn't have to overreact like that," the winged girl chided the forest spirits as if telling off a child, to which they simply shrugged as if timidly protesting. "Well, sure, she hangs out with spirits, that's rare, but it looks like they're just protecting her from harm."

"Are… are you a fairy?" Asked Iduna carefully as she lowered her spear, deciding that the strange girl didn't mean harm any more than she did.

"Probably; no one's told me otherwise," shrugged the winged girl, as if that wasn't important. "What I AM is Maleficent, guardian of the Moors. And it's my job to ask: who are _you_?"

"I'm Iduna," replied Iduna before hesitating. When Maleficent raised her eyebrows at her to continue, she settled for: "… I was born in the Northurlands."

What she didn't expect was the fairy's reaction.

"Oh, so you're a Northuldra? You're skin's pretty bright for one," wondered Maleficent, using a tone as if she was discussing the weather. "I heard that the Northurlands was shut out by a magical mist a few years ago. Are you magical? That would explain how you got out."

"I – wait, what? You know the Enchanted Forest?" Blurted out Iduna incredulously.

"Of course I do; there aren't so many of those left in the world, you know," replied Maleficent a-matter-of-factly. "Though from what I've heard about it, it has nothing on the Moors. Now _here's_ an enchanted forest, mark my words."

"I…... I'm trying to figure out if I'm magical, I guess," murmured Iduna as her gaze fell. "I think the spirits come to me when I call upon them. I… I've been living in Arendelle after my home was lost for me, but I had to leave when I realized I've been bringing powerful spirits there. I've been putting everyone at risk."

"Hmm," hummed Maleficent as she threw a look at the two spirits at Iduna's side. "Well, it certainly seems that spirits are drawn to you, in any case. They almost never stick around humanfolk, let alone travel with one."

"Then I'm too dangerous to be around humanfolk after all," mumbled Iduna miserably, then her eyes glistened as a new idea came into her head. "But what about here? The Moors has the most powerful spirit guardians I've ever seen. Maybe here's where I belong."

"I don't think so," interrupted Maleficent, cutting her off so quickly that Iduna felt a little indignant.

"Why, you think I'm a danger here too?" She murmured, a bit more acidly than she'd intended.

"No, because you won't be happy here," answered Maleficent, with a surprising amount of sincerity in her voice. "You don't belong somewhere just because you have nowhere else to go. You'll just end up making your world smaller and smaller until you can't go _anywhere_."

"Then what better choice do I have?" Asked Iduna, trying not to sound bitter.

"Why ask me?" Maleficent asked back with a raised eyebrow. "You have so many questions. Don't you Northuldra have a place that holds all the answers for those?"

The winged girl's question sparked a flash of memory in Iduna, that of the most sacred legends her mother would croon to her in her sleep. A tale that had cherished her to sleep every night, yet its meanings so hidden -

_In her waters, deep and true_

_Lie the answers and a path for you…_

"Ahtohallan," breathed Iduna, realization dawning on her face. Of course! How could she have forgotten one of her peoples' oldest myths? "The river that holds the answers to the past… I didn't even know the place was real!"

"Oh, I've heard plenty about it," said Maleficent her eyes becoming a little distant. "Some say that it reveals itself differently to each visitor, and some say that everytime someone manages to go there its shape changes. I'd have loved to go and see that for myself, if it weren't for the duties I have here."

"Then that's where I gotta go, to see if it can tell me why I can do what I can," said Iduna, feeling her resolve harden.

"Do you even know where it is, though?"

"As north as you can go, beyond the Dark Sea," replied Iduna confidently. "I can't imagine how I'll be able to cross the Dark Sea, but I'll worry about that when I get there; it's a long trip ahead."

"Well, it doesn't have to be THAT long," said Maleficent with a playful grin as she raised her hand, a yellowish powerful glow emanating from it. The next moment, Iduna almost jumped in surprise as a portal opened up right behind her. "I don't usually use magic that often, but I figured you'd find it handy. Go through that and you'll find yourself at the north end of the fjord. The Dark Sea awaits you there."

"You… you'd do that for me?" Iduna breathed in disbelief as she stared at the first REAL magic she witnessed.

"Whoever's friends with spirits is a good person in my vocabulary," shrugged Maleficent nonchalantly. "The Moors was never on best terms with the humanfolk, but I'm hoping that things will change in the future. I'd like to start with little things like these."

"Thank you," replied Iduna with all the sincerity she could muster. Then, as if spurred by something, she offered her hand at Maleficent with a smile.

"I don't know if we'll ever get to meet again," she said, picking her words carefully. "But if we do… I'd be happy to call you a friend, if it's okay with you."

Maleficent looked at her hand for a moment as if pondering the gesture, and Iduna was starting to get a little embarrassed when she took it in a soft but firm grip.

"Friends sound nice," agreed the fairy with a small grin.

Iduna found herself still smiling as she and her spirit friends dove into her portal.

* * *

_If we assume that Maleficent and Frozen happened at a similar timeline, I supposed that Maleficent had been pretty young when Iduna was sixteen; probably before she was betrayed by Stefan and got twisted into a vengeful sorceress. I was in need of a character who knows something about magic and can guide Iduna on her journey, so naturally I chose her for the role. Let's see how the journey to Ahtohallan shall turn out in the next chapter... or will we?_


	11. (Bad) Dreams Come True

The nightmares had returned.

At least this time, Agnarr was aware of the fact that this was a dream as he found himself back in the Enchanted Forest again, but that didn't make him feel any better as he took in the bloody battlefield that ended up leaving nothing but corpses. Some of them he knew, some he didn't, but nothing changed the fact that they shouldn't have died here.

What was worse; this time he knew that Iduna wasn't here to wake him up, or even punch him awake.

Never feeling more lonely, Agnarr's legs gave out under him as he crumpled onto the sea of blood and mountains of bodies, just waiting out for the nightmare to end. As a King he would never show such weakness take over him, but here he was just a nineteen-year-old thrown into a forest that held nothing but death; he couldn't care less about dignity at this point.

"Agnarr."

Just as he was about to bury his head beneath his arms, a voice called out to him from behind. Opening his eyes to see a familiar silhouette looming over him, he turned around to face the one person he thought he would never see again – at least in life.

"Father…...?"

Runeard only nodded once as he faced his son. His cloak was splattered with blood and dirt, but he was _alive_. And his eyes brimmed with warmth that was almost strange to Agnarr; while Runeard no doubt loved his son, his usual authoritative demeanor usually prohibited him from expressing it.

"Yes, it's me," he chuckled as he got down on one knee to embrace his son, and it was that rare gesture that made Agnarr break; suddenly he was a boy again, simply glad to have his father back from the dead.

"I tried my best to be a good King, Father," wept Agnarr into his arms, sounding wretched but not caring. "But it was hard, so hard without you there to guide me. I wish this wasn't a dream…"

"So do I, my son," breathed Runeard as he took his childish musings in stride. Then, his eyes flashed in a more familiar ways as he continued: "But we can't just be standing here, Agnarr. There is someone we must find."

"Who is it?" Asked Agnarr. It wasn't common for his father to speak about something in such an urgent manner.

"The girl, lad, who else?" cried Runeard as he got to his feet, looking around wildly as if his objective would leap out of any bush around them. "We must find that girl you always think about, Agnarr. And you are going to help me."

"You mean Iduna?" Asked back Agnarr with a blink. He had no idea why his father would be seeking out Iduna, or how he knew her in the first place.

But then again, this was his father, right? He was always certain of what was the right thing to do, unlike him.

"We must find the girl," repeated Runeard, his voice starting to echo in weird ways. Was it just Agnarr, or was his vision getting a little hazy? He couldn't tell. It was as if he was being hypnotized…

This was his father. He would know what to do.

"Find the girl," said Runeard again, flashing his pale blue eyes at Agnarr.

"Find… Iduna…" Agnarr found himself repeating, even as he wondered if his father's eyes were ever blue.

"Find the girl for me, my son. Find Iduna!"

"Find… Iduna…"

Yes, he must find Iduna. That's what he'd been doing today, right? To try and find Iduna. He wasn't exactly sure what he would be once he did find her, but what was important was that his father wanted her found.

HE wanted her found.

And find her he would.

* * *

Kai stifled a sigh as he busied himself dusting the throne room. Like the King, he wasn't one to show signs of tiredness around other people, and only took liberty to do so when they were alone – or at least, when they thought they were alone.

And he was tired, not because it was the middle of the night, but over worrying about Agnarr. He was only a couple years younger than Kai himself, yet the role of King had forced too much weight on his shoulders since years ago. As a page he had stood by his side and watched through all of that… it was not the most enjoyable task of his job.

But he'd been getting better in recent days, as he grew closer to Iduna; Kai wasn't fooled by their years of self-denial. She was having a very good effect on him, made him a lot less tense and brought him closer to his people; and, dare he add, a lot less like his authoritative father.

A second sigh left Kai's mouth as he thought about the recent month; Agnarr may deny it however he'd like, but Iduna's ill-explained departure had dealt a serious blow to him, and he seemed to have somewhat relapsed back all that conceal-it-put-on-a-show rubbish again. He wouldn't be surprised if he was having trouble sleeping again too…

Just then the door into the throne room creaked open, and Kai blinked in surprise as he heard Agnarr's telltale footsteps behind him.

"Havin trouble sleeping, your Majesty?" Asked Kai lightly as he turned around – only to step back in horror at what he was seeing.

The young King's gait was slightly hunched as he walked in, as if he was drunk. Only that his unseeing eyes weren't hazy from alcohol, but something more profound, more evil – like the image of a cloaked figure rising behind him and controlling his movements like a puppeteer would to his marionette.

"The Nightmare Spirit…!" Gasped Kai, recognizing the offending figure from the gurds' descriptions. It's been five years since it last assaulted the King, only to be thwarted by Iduna; now it looked as if it had firmly planted himself into Agnarr, enough to gain complete control over him. "Guards! To the throne room! To the King!"

The Royal Guards were quick to respond as they rushed into the throne room, but even they had to hesitate and stare in shock at what was happening to the King. Agnarr himself, meanwhile, slowly staggered toward the throne as if he hadn't noticed any of the commotions. It was only after he seated himself that he looked up at the assembled crowd before him, though his eyes were still blank and devoid of himself.

"Must… find… Iduna…" Kai's eyes widened as he barely made out what Agnarr was whispering. What was he talking about? Almost a whole month had passed since he himself had called off the search for the girl!

Unless… it wasn't really him that was speaking.

"The evil spirit has bewitched the King!" Kai shouted, noticing the soldiers hesitating. "You remember how Iduna freed him five years ago. I'll take full responsibility if you have to kick him awake!"

"Find… Iduna…" repeated Agnarr, and this time it sounded like an order as his empty eyes turned onto the soldiers. The unnatural state finally seemed to convince the guards that something had to be done, and some of them began boldly marching towards him.

Unfortunately, it looked like the Nightmare Spirit had learned from its past experience.

"Banshees…" Murmured Agnarr as his possessor let out an unearthly shriek from behind that sent a chill straight up Kai's spine. The next moment a thick haze was thrown up to engulf the throne room, out of which several women-like figures materialized – except they looked like semitransparent corpses, their faces gaunt and eyes hollow. They had no legs and hovered midair like poor ghosts, but Kai knew better about banshees; omens of death, said to be able to steal the bodies of living beings for themselves.

The soldiers' advances were halted as the banshees crowded around Agnarr as if _they_ were the guards, eyeing the men hungrily as if looking for an opening to pounce. As if that wasn't all of it, Agnarr wasn't finished yet.

"Find… Iduna…" droned the possessed King, each of his words being emphasized by an aura of pure power radiating from the Nightmare Spirit as it fed on his dreams. "Fire serpent… Tunnelers… Harpies… Drowned Wraith…"

As the Nightmare Spirit let out another bloodcurdling shriek, Kai found himself unable to do anything except for praying that he was imagining the tremors he was feeling underneath.

* * *

April 6th, 1813 – folks would remember this as a fearful night when Arendelle was taken; not by invading nations or pirates or insurgents, but by an army of magical creatures that the Nightmare Spirit had summoned.

People fled in fear as a gigantic black cobra rose up and let loose a blast of white-hot fire from its jaws, setting a whole forest on fire. Streets were upturned and buildings toppled as reptile shaped Tunnelers burst from the ground and rounded people up as if they were prey. Shrieks filled the air as mean harpies swept down on houses to tear through the windows and roofs. All attempts to flee to the fjord was thwarted by a hulking giant in a suit of armor that appeared in the harbor, hurling its massive anchor at whoever tried to get near a ship.

All of them were whispering something in a language no man could understand, and anyone who did understand it quailed in fear – for it was the same words that their King, sitting on his throne with the Nightmare Spirit rooted to his back, was repeating over and over again:

"Must… find… Iduna…

* * *

_I think, in Agnarr's subconsciousness, he never got over the loss of his father. The Nightmare Spirit is taking advantage of that, plus his secret(?) affection for Iduna. In the next chapter we'll see how her journey to Ahtohallan is faring..._


	12. Sea of Terrors

Iduna should've expected that things weren't going to be that easy.

Both the Northuldra and Arendellians had many tales concerning the perils of the Dark Sea, but all the stories she'd heard was nothing compared to the sheer violence of the sea that lay before her.

She'd seen the sea get quite rough in Arendelle under bad weather, when the waves would strike against the port so hard that waves would rise up higher than the biggest of ships. But the waves rushing in front of her were taller than _buildings_, and even here at the shore the wind was so strong that the Sylph and the Will O' Wisp were hiding behind Iduna to save themselves from being blown away.

The young girl flinched as yet another lightning shredded the sky, desperately looking around for a ship even as she knew that there weren't any; no one was crazy enough to even come near the Dark Sea, let alone cross it.

"What to do now…...?" Muttered Iduna as she looked at the Morphling; currently the water spirit was 'standing' at the edge of the churning waters, this time having taken Yelena's form as she returned her dubious look. The message was clear: even it couldn't guarantee that it could carry Iduna all the way to Ahtohallan.

But there was no way she was going to give up now. She had lost count of how many times she had called out into nature while she was in Arendelle, and for all she knew all spirits who had heard them were on her tail. She couldn't possibly return to Arendelle in this state – unless she could find an answer for the origin of her nature, which could only be beyond this storm.

Just then, she thought she'd heard a neighing sound somewhere ahead.

"Water…?" Iduna whispered without realizing that she said it. This was, after all, supposed to be the liquescent steed's domain. From what she had heard of her old home its guardians had vanished the day the Mist fell… had water come back to welcome her home?

The neighing sound came again, but not from the sea – rather, from the sky. Blinking in surprise, Iduna looked around to see that a dense fog had settled all around them without anyone noticing, seemingly unaffected by the harsh windstorm.

Another neigh, and this time Iduna could see a figure approaching from the sky – in the shape of a horse alright, but unlike Water this one was also with a rider.

The horse was, as one would expect for a spirit of air, half-transparent as if it was made out of a thin cloud, its hooves kicking thin air as it raced across the heavens toward Iduna. Its rider was completely hidden in a silver armor and grey cloak, except for its eyes that glowed icy blue beneath its hood.

"A Mist Knight," breathed Iduna in wonder at the newcomer's powerful form, before remembering that not all spirits were friendly. What if this one was here to fight as well?

The other spirits seemed to share her concerns, for they gathered around her as they bristled in aggression against the newcomer.

"…" If the Mist Knight had noticed its fellow spirits' hostility, it did not show it as its mount landed lightly in front of Iduna, its expression hidden under the tattered hood as it looked down at Iduna.

After a moment of hesitation, she decided that if the air spirit was an enemy it would have attacked on sight. Besides, she didn't have any option but to gamble on this.

With a nervous gulp Iduna offered her best attempt at a bow to the Mist Knight, silently thanking Agnarr for going out of his way to teach her some palace manners. To her pleasant surprise the knight and the horse both returned the bow courteously; guess they were here to help after all.

"Will you take me across the sea to Ahtohallan?" She asked the air spirit carefully, feeling a little weird; she seldom tried to make humanlike conversation with a spirit, since they probably didn't understand her anyway.

"…" To her surprise, however, the knight's only response was to lean down and offer her a gloved hand.

Taking that as a yes Iduna quickly latched onto its gauntlet, and suppressed a yelp as it effortlessly plucked her off the ground and put her in front of him on the saddle. One moment later the reins snapped, and she instinctively shut her eyes as the turquoise horse shot off the ground like a cannonball straight into the sky.

Iduna had experienced flight before, when Wind would often lift her up in a swirl of leaves and whisk her to the treetops to entertain her. But this… this was a whole new level. She was flying through fog and soaring above the clouds, not even the monstrous waves below able to reach her. And for something moving so fast the horse was surprisingly stable; if it weren't for the wind buffeting her face Iduna could swear she was in danger of falling asleep.

And then she saw it – the wall of Mist that had cut her off from ever returning to the Northuldra, waylaying her path again as it stretched across the entire ocean ahead of her. Iduna felt her heart sink – was her journey doomed from the start after all?

The Mist Knight, however, showed no sign of stopping or slowing as they raced towards the endless obstacle. Instead its left hand let go of the rein, and Iduna sharply held her breath as she saw a large sword made out of mist materialized out of its hand.

"…_!"_ Without an ounce of hesitation, the Mist Knight swung its sword toward the Mist – which vertically split apart upon the gesture.

"Of course, the Mist parts for you…!" Gasped Iduna in amazement as the air spirit took her straight through the narrow gap made between the walls of fog, which immediately closed up the moment they passed through it. The sword, having done its work, at once dissipated into thin air.

As they continued to run – or flying? Or was it both? – across the stormy sky, Iduna couldn't help but look around in anticipation. It suddenly dawned upon her that for the first time in five years she was on the same side of the Mist with the Northuldra. She could go home if she wanted…

She shook her head violently, letting loose the thought. She couldn't return to her people now, for the exact same reason that she had left Arendelle in the first place. She could only pray that Ahtohallan was worth whatever she was going there for.

As their journey continued above the raging Dark Sea, Iduna dared to glance down and see if anything was visible besides the towering waves. To her surprise she could see a large island on her left, with no particular feature except for a gigantic cave, its mouth covered in… frost? In April?

As they passed over the off-season island a sudden roar echoed out of the cave, sending a sense of terror through Iduna that she'd never experienced before; she had never felt more fear in her life, not even when she had come face-to-face with the Nightmare Spirit.

No, this was a more innate sense of fear – a one that a prey would have in the face of a hunter.

Again Iduna made a mistake of looking behind her as they swept over the cave – a mistake, for seeing what was crawling menacingly out of it only multiplied her fear, and for a good reason.

"Ice Dragon…!" She gasped in horror, almost falling off the misty horse as all strength left her. Indeed a dragon it was, and an enormous one – once its blue-silver body completely exited the cave and unfurled its wings, Iduna realized that it was as almost as big as the Arendelle castle.

And she didn't need any draconic knowledge to see that it was very, very angry at the intruding presence.

With another bloodcurdling roar the mighty beast took flight, and Iduna's eyes widened in alarm to see that it was FAST; the Mist Knight's steed was faster than anything Iduna had ever experienced, but the dragon was swiftly catching up to them.

"Spirits help us!" Iduna found herself crying as the dragon opened its maw, and the next moment a powerful blast of ice shot past them by an inch, ramming into one of the waves below and turning it into a gigantic iceberg. If even one of those breaths made a hit…

"…_!"_ Iduna could feel a sense of alarm pulsing from the Mist Knight as well. Instead of trying to speed up more, though, it was starting to slow its horse. Iduna froze as she saw the air spirit drawing out its sword again. Was it seriously going to FIGHT this dragon? With her sitting in front of it?

The Mist Knight apparently had a different idea – as it whirled around to face the incoming dragon, the air spirit grabbed Iduna by the collar, and, with a breath that almost sounded apologetic, threw her off the horse.

Iduna only had time to scream for half a second before the Sylph caught her from underneath, whisking her away from the upcoming battle as the Mist Knight bravely charged the Ice Dragon, swords raised and posture grim.

"No…" whispered Iduna as the two entities crashed far behind her, but there was nothing she could do but pray that her new friend would leave the encounter unharmed; though they had just met, the Mist Knight had offered her a helping hand when she had most needed one, and now was risking itself to protect her.

But soon Iduna realized that her own troubles were far from over; the Sylph had been carrying her above the stormy sea like how Wind would carry her back in the Enchanted Forest, but Iduna was a lot bigger than back then and the Sylph wasn't as strong as her Northurland counterpart; her altitude was slowly getting lower and lower, until the highest waves began licking dangerously at them. At this point they'd end up in the sea…

"Well, it looks as if there's a soul here in need of help, little one!"

"What?" Gasped Iduna as a low, deep voice rang out from somewhere, and suddenly a large bubble appeared to completely encase her, forcing the Sylph away from her but effectively having her float well above the waves. "Who was that?"

"Someone who loves giving helping hands, darling," cooed that voice again, and this time Iduna noticed that it was coming from _beneath_ the water – or rather, from someone who was rising out of it.

Iduna wasn't big on the Greek myths, but if she had known about it she'd definitely have been reminded of Poseidon; not many beings can emerge from the ocean on a chariot being pulled by two enormous Moray eels, and has a power to calm a small area of raging sea around himself.

Except it wasn't a _he_, but a fierce-looking woman with brown hair and dark purple eyes, looking a bit too young to match the gravelly voice.

"What have we here?" Said the mysterious woman to herself as she observed a bubble-trapped Iduna. "A human girl, befriended by spirits, entering this magical mist headed for what I can only assume to be the Twin Rivers? Quite an eccentric combination, if I do say so myself."

"I'm Iduna of the Northuldra, and I'm on a journey to Ahtohallan," despite her inner confusion Iduna decided to introduce herself properly; what was the harm? "Are… are you a sea goddess?"

"Oh, I only wish," chuckled the woman amusedly, though there was a slight hint of bitterness. "My name is Vanessa. You could say I'm, well, a witch."

* * *

_Well that's a hella lot of new characters. Did I just introduce a sea witch who rips off poor unfortunate souls? :)_

_My design of the Mist Knight is based on Abaddon from Dota 2, if anyone's curious. I had two air spirits helping Iduna out (The Sylph and the Mist Knight) as homage to the fact that she was closest to Gale back in the forest. And also we needed a convenient method for her to cross into the Mist..._


	13. A River Found

"A witch?" Asked Iduna as she raised her eyes dubiously at Vanessa. She didn't really look like a witch, but then again that would explain how she had the girl suspended in a floating bubble while she stood on a chariot that would run across water.

"I see the look of prejudice in your eyes," remarked Vanessa in mock-hurt. "Not all witches are bad, you know; I just saved you from drowning, didn't I?"

"…Thank you?" Replied Iduna awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. "I'm not sure I have anything you want in return, though."

"Not yet, you may not," agreed Vanessa with a nod. "But I'll say I'm mildly interested in what you seek out in the Twin Rivers… I have a hunch that it'll be an enlightening experience, even for me."

At that moment the Morphling burst out of the water next to her chariot, assuming the Captain of the Guard's form as he glared at the sea witch.

"I will have to suspect you have been up to something fishy," the form spoke, and Iduna realized that the water spirit was mimicking the Captain from Iduna's memory, when he had interrogated her about the Nightmare Spirit.

"Funny trick," scoffed Vanessa, dismissively waving her hands as a small wave rushed up, crumbling the Morphling's assumed form.

"What are you suggesting?" Iduna dared to ask, assuming that by the Twin Rivers she was talking about Ahtohallan. So there are two rivers there instead of one?

"I'm suggesting that we make a deal," cooed Vanessa, and with a lurch Iduna's bubble descended until their eyes were almost level with each other. "It's a simple favor, really. I take you safely to where you want to go, and in return… I get to see whatever you want to see there too."

There _was_ something fishy about the way she spoke, as if she had ulterior motives that Iduna couldn't begin to grasp. But for all her suspicions, she really didn't have much of a choice… and the deal itself didn't sound like it was so terrible.

"We have a deal," she told Vanessa, who smiled widely upon the positive answer.

"Then all we need is a sign contracts," remarked the sea witch as she produced a piece of parchment and a fishbone quill out of thin air before handing them over to Iduna. "Don't worry about the paper getting wet, just sign in your name and the deal is sealed!"

Iduna never had a situation when she had a paper to sign – that was usually Agnarr's job. She did read the paper carefully so that she wasn't being tricked, or at least she _tried_ to decipher Vanessa's complex handwriting.

"Excellent," breathed Vanessa as Iduna signed the contract, and the parchment immediately flew out of her hands and vanished. "Now that we got the hard part over with, all there's left to do is go. Hop on, young lady. This old lady is always glad to help!"

With a snap of her fingers Iduna's bubble popped, having the young girl fall into Vanessa's chariot with a yelp of surprise. At once the two Moray eels pulling the chariot broke into a powerful swim, pulling the vehicle across the Dark Sea with incredulous speed. The raging waves had no power over the sea witch; a small area of calm space was maintained around the quick-moving chariot, and any wave that dares to invade it was quickly dissolved as if it had slammed into a wall.

"So, a Northuldra that had been trapped outside her own home, yes?" Remarked Vanessa, apparently trying a conversation. "I know that feeling, little girl; I, too, have a home that I can never go back to."

"You're trapped inside this Mist too, then?" Iduna assumed innocently.

"Oh no; you didn't think the Mist extends all the way into the sea, did you?" Laughed Vanessa in a way that had Iduna flush with embarrassment. "I only visited here to collect some special sea herbs that only grow in the north, dearie. They're quite essential for many of my potions, you know."

"Then why can't you go home?" Asked Iduna, a little saddened by the thought.

"Magic, of course," answered Vanessa, that bitter tone crawling in her voice again. "You see, I once lived in a kingdom of merfolk, but they were afraid of what I was capable of and banished me."

"I'm sorry," mumbled Iduna, afraid that she had offended the woman.

"Meh, I'm way past grudges, so don't you mind," shrugged Vanessa. "But enough about me. What do you know about the Twin Rivers? You seem quite ignorant for someone who's willing to risk her life to go there."

"Just old legends," replied Iduna, leaving out the fact that she'd heard a lot from Maleficent too. "But it's enough to know that it holds answers about the past and who we are."

"Ah, yes; water holds on to memories," muttered Vanessa with a snort. "But your elders apparently haven't told you that the past isn't the only thing it can offer."

"What do you mean?" Asked Iduna in confusion. Was there still more to this place than she knew?

"I mean that your knowledge of the Twin Rivers is… quite one-sided," chuckled Vanessa as she pointed ahead. "See for yourself, and you'll know."

Following her gaze along her fingertips, Iduna did see – and could only be stunned at the sight that she beheld.

An island covered with black rocks had come into sight out of the fog, looking just big enough that the city of Arendelle might fit right in it. At once Iduna understood why Vanessa called Ahtohallan the Twin Rivers, for indeed there were two rivers that started from the top of the island and ran down in opposite directions.

While one was a normal river of water, albeit a very large and wide one, that ran down to the east shore, but the other, the one that flowed west… was a path of molten lava.

Ahtohallan was a volcanic island.

"A river of fire and water…" gasped Iduna in amazement. Now she understood what Vanessa had meant; Ahtohallan not only held the water that remembers, it also was home to the fire that foretells. It was a place for both the past and the future.

"And that's my end of the bargain," spoke the sea witch as her chariot reached the southeast shore of the island, closer to the river of water. "It's your choice what you wish to see, depending on what kind of answers you want, as long as you would share it with me. That will be your payment for my services."

"Okay…" mumbled Iduna as she stepped down on the island somewhat nervously. Then, suddenly, the started as a distant sound of a roar struck her ears. "Oh, no…"

"Hmm, looks like your draconic friend is looking for you," sniffed Vanessa with a hint of disdain as she looked behind them. Sure enough, the Ice Dragon had returned, approaching Ahtohallan from high above with such speed that it was already hovering over its summit by the time her words were over. The Mist Knight could be seen as well, hot on the drake's tail and trying to hack at it with its sword.

Upon reaching Ahtohallan the Ice Dragon finally swung around to face its opponent, but not before shooting a glance at Iduna. Then, with a furious roar, it fired a massive breath of cold energy at the Mist Knight, who barely managed to gallop out of its way.

But the dragon's attack did not relent, as its destructive breath continued to follow the air spirit like a moving pillar of death. Iduna could only watch in horror as the Mist Knight began circumventing Ahtohallan in its attempt to escape, and the breath followed – straight onto the waist of the river.

"NO!" Cried the young girl as frost began creeping up the mythical river by the dragon's attack, which gathered together into a wave of ice that slowly began covering its entire length – until it was been transformed into an enormous glacier.

"Trust dragons to stir up trouble," commented Vanessa dully, looking more annoyed than afraid of witnessing a dragon rampage in front of her. Iduna couldn't stay so calm; she had finally arrived on the place where her destiny would be found, but how was she supposed to do it if the Ice Dragon laid waste to it?

Her answer came in the form of a tremor in the ground, and she turned left to see that the Mist Knight had already raced over to the other half of the island, causing the dragon's icy breath to strike the river of lava as well. As if responding to the offense, the molten fire began boiling up dangerously, until the top of the island suddenly exploded with a loud _BANG_ that sent Iduna to the ground.

"Way to anger a magical volcano…." Vanessa's groan was lost under more explosions as plumes of smoke and flaming rocks began spewing out of the volcano, some of them flying so high that they struck the Ice Dragon and induced pained bellows. So ferocious was the blast the even the Mist Knight had to turn tail and flee into the fog.

Iduna, unfortunately, was just a human girl, and couldn't do the same when a bolt of volcanic bomb was headed straight for her. She barely had time to jump out of the way as the bear-sized boulder crashed into where she'd been a second ago, but she couldn't get up in time for the flames to leap onto her.

Iduna had no time to scream as the flames engulfed her.

* * *

_That's a big IF I threw right there; what if Ahtohallan wasn't always a river of ice? What if it could show more than just the past? We'll have to wait for the next chapter to see what the fire wants Iduna to see..._

_I've been pointed out in the comments that chronologically Maleficent and Iduna can never meet, which of course I knew. But if you think about it, Tangled is presumed to be centuries earlier than Frozen, yet Rapunzel and Eugene appeared as cameo. If Disney is willing to bend the timeline for a little collaboration, I think I can allow myself a little more liberty :)_


	14. A River Lost

Iduna regained consciousness to the sound of singing.

_Am I dead?_ That was the first thought that came to her mind; small wonder, for she could clearly remember the fire smiting her before everything had gone black.

The sheer despair that came with the thought made her refuse to open her eyes, and for a while she remained crawled up and shut-eyed as she silently wept. She never really had her hopes high up, but to come this far only to fail after all was too much for a sixteen-year-old girl's mind.

Never again would she be able to thank her spirit friends who have kept her company through her loneliest times. Never again would she set foot on her home alive, to even know if her family and friends were alive and well. Never again would she return to Arendelle and Agnarr, who had given her a new home when she'd been in the deepest of despair.

What if it was all for the best? As long as there were spirits that followed her callings she was potential danger to any humanfolk anyway. Maybe, if she just perished here, everyone else will finally be free.

The idea didn't make her feel better, but it did calm her enough to hear the singing again – and this time her eyes snapped open in recognition.

It was the traditional Northuldra song of welcome.

Iduna scrambled to her feet, only to blink in confusion; something was wrong with her sight. Everything was so blurred, as if she was seeing through smoke.

Smoke… was this her vision through fire? Was she seeing a glimpse of the future?

"Maybe I'm not dead after all," muttered Iduna as she rubbed her eyes, though the hazy vision did not relent. "Or maybe I am, and this is the last thing I see before the flames eat me up."

Well, either way she wasn't about to miss it.

Squinting as best as she could, Iduna managed to deduce where she was in a moment, for she had been here before; she was standing on a tall ledge with a narrow road, beyond which she knew the entrance to the Enchanted Forest would be.

Hurrying onward to see what her home would look like in the vision, Iduna's breath was caught in her throat, for even with her clouded sight she could see that the Mist was not there.

Now she was almost afraid to believe that the fire was showing her this. Will the forest eventually be freed? If so, when? How far in the future was this?

And then something else caught her eye, again something too big to dodge even her hazy eyes: the imposing forms of Earth, towering over the four totems that signed the entrance into the Northurlands.

_The spirits are free too!_ The thought sent a shiver of glee all over Iduna, making her desperate to see further. It seemed that many people have gathered in the large clearing just outside the entrance. Though it was too blurry to see, Iduna's heart skipped a beat as she took in the beige leather outfits of the Northuldra, mingled with the various-colored clothes that belonged to the Arendellians. There seemed to be a reindeer game going on in the center, just like the day when she escaped the forest five years ago.

Arendelle and the Northuldra, her two homes, joined in harmony.

Iduna didn't realize that she was crying until she felt the tears welling up in her eyes, messing up her already impaired sight even more. Busily wiping them off, Iduna almost rolled down the ledge to see the celebration up close. She was still too amazed to believe that this will really happen someday, but for now she didn't care; she was just happy to be able to drink in this sight here and now.

At the center of the clearing there seemed to be two figures, one in a green dress and one in white. Iduna's vision was still too marred to see their faces, but she noticed that the green-clothed woman was wearing a tiara on her head. The Queen of Arendelle, perhaps?

And then she turned her attention to the other woman – who was holding a familiar blue lizard in her hands. With a gasp of shock Iduna recognized Fire, rubbing itself so playfully in the mysterious woman's hand. Noticing the sign affection Wind arrived in a swirl of leaves and its telltale whistle, wreathing itself around the woman in white as if pleading for attention. Even Water trotted over and rested its head against her shoulder, though its liquescent body was covered in what seemed to be frost.

A human that is loved by the spirits… Iduna had heard of such a being from her family legends.

"The Fifth Spirit," breathed the young girl as she took off her scarf, the only Northuldra heirloom she had brought to Arendelle. Sewn in it were the symbols of the four elementals along with a fifth one – the one who shall arrive one day to be a bridge between nature and humanfolk.

She still wasn't close enough to see anyone's faces, but it was obvious that the two women were enjoying each other's' company, and a pang of inexplicable pain threatened to overcome Iduna. She wanted so desperately to go to them, to see what they looked like…

But it had seemed that the fire had revealed enough. The haze that impaired her vision began to thicken, and soon Iduna found herself being engulfed in darkness again. But just before the blackness claimed her she thought she imagined the two women turning in her direction, and were saying something to her, a single word:

"_Mother…"_

* * *

A splash of water jolted Iduna awake, and her eyes shot open with a gasp – her vision was clear this time.

"Are you alright?"

Iduna almost leaped up in surprise at Agnarr's voice sounding behind her, and she whirled around to see that it was the Morphling, having assumed the young King's form as he(?) looked down at her with concern.

"You saved me from the fire," realized Iduna as she looked down at her dripping self, parts of her body and clothes singed by the fire but otherwise pretty intact. The volcanic bomb that had torched her hadn't even cooled off yet, which meant that the vision really had been a flash of a moment – though for Iduna it had felt like minutes had passed.

The memory of the vision brought a flash of warmth through her body; the Northurland freed and restored, peace and friendship between her people and Arendelle, the arrival of the Fifth Spirit…

It wasn't what she asked or expected to see, but the fire of Ahtohallan had shown her a wonderful future. And it dawned on her that she has a part to play in making that future come true as well.

"Well, it looks like you've seen a lot more than what you've bargained for," spoke a cool, low voice, and Iduna looked up to see that Vanessa was observing her with a strangely gleeful look.

"I promised you to share what Ahtohallan told me," began Iduna, but to her surprise Vanessa shook her head.

"No need for that; I've already seen it through your eyes," chuckled the sea witch as one of her eyes suddenly glowed yellow. "Courtesy of my magic. That vision was precious, though you won't realize what it means for you yet."

"You mean you understand it?" Asked back Iduna as she shakily got to her feet, only to stagger in surprise as a violent tremor shook the entire island, followed by a savage roar.

"I'd love to stay around and explain it, but I'm afraid the dragon's quite not finished yet," pointed out Vanessa as she glanced upward. The Ice Dragon was still enraged, though its objective has now turned to the volcano as it spewed lava and fireballs at the intruder. Now its deadly ice breath was striking the river of fire, cooling it into the same black stone that covered the rest of the island – besides the newly formed ice, of course.

"Well, now we know what people say about this place," sighed Vanessa as she and Iduna beheld the devastation that was unfolding. "Every time someone reaches here it changes forever… who knew that a change would come in the shape of an angry dragon?"

Iduna only shuddered, remembering that Maleficent had told her something similar back at the Moors. But there was no time to mourn over the sacred place for her people being desecrated.

"I have to go back to Arendelle," she decided with resolution. She was aware that, for the present, the Arendellians remembered the Northuldra and the spirits with fear and treachery. She didn't know any details about the battle that had caused it, so she had no chance of undoing that prejudice on her own. But maybe someday, far in the future, there may be people who will be less judgmental to her people and more willing to open up.

Maybe it was her destiny to stay in Arendelle and watch over people who believe in peace rather than distrust. Perhaps she will teach her own children that, if she ever gets a chance. Then, someday, when the Fifth Spirit arrives to free the forest, her people will find the Arendellians in friendship again.

As for the spirits… Iduna was still unsure of the possibility of having dangerous spirits following her calls. But she hadn't made one in a long while, and now that she had a strong reason to return she could convince herself that she could find a way to overcome it, perhaps together with the spirits that _do_ mean well.

And, with a flash of embarrassment, Iduna realized that even without those reasons her heart _wanted_ to go back. Finally admitting it did take a huge load off her back.

"I suppose you do," admitted Vanessa, looking out vaguely toward the shore. "And look; it looks like your ride is back."

Iduna looked up at that, and almost cried out in relief as she saw the Mist Knight racing back towards the island at breakneck speed, the Sylph flanking its fellow air spirit to create a tailwind. The Ice Dragon was too busy wrestling the volcano to notice its opponent's return, and it took full advantage of the distraction as it landed right in front of Iduna with a solid _thud_.

"We have to go back!" Gasped Iduna as she practically launched herself onto the mist horse. Taking one last look at Vanessa, she didn't forget to add: "Thank you for bringing me here."

"That was the part of the deal," shrugged Vanessa dismissively, and whatever she was saying next was lost to Iduna as the Mist Knight took off the island, racing across the raging Dark Sea to return the Spiritcaller back to Arendelle.

* * *

"Interesting…" said 'Vanessa' to herself as she took in everything she had seen in Iduna's vision. "To think that the girl's offspring will grow to be a spirit of such power…!"

As she spoke she began walking back into the churning waters instead of calling out for her chariot like before. And as she did that, her 'legs' began to split and bloat up, as well as her entire body. Brown hair shortened and turned white, large violet eyes became black and smaller…

By the time she was completely submerged, the figure of the beautiful human woman was gone, replaced by an enormous half-woman half-octopus creature, black magic radiating from the very fiber of her being.

"And you just let her go, Mistress Ursula?" Asked one of the Moray eels that had been pulling her chariot before, its single yellow eye gleaming with malice.

"Oh, we _will_ meet again, Flotsam," cackled Ursula lightly. "She is of no use to me now, but when that day comes… she will belong to me, and by that her daughter as well. With the human-spirit's aid, I shall truly become Master of the Sea!"

Her ambitious announcement was answered by a menacing snarl, and the Sea Witch turned around to see that the Ice Dragon had completely frozen the volcano shut, and was now eyeing the new powerful opponent hungrily.

"Touchy, touchy," sighed Ursula as she ignored the dragon, walking into the water with a derisive flick of her hand. The Ice Dragon, enraged by the witch's indifference and gleeful at witnessing her exposed back, didn't hesitate to pounce like a cat would hunt a mouse –

\- only to roar in shock as enormous tentacles suddenly shot out of the sea to wrap themselves around the beast.

"Feast on it, Kraken," purred Ursula with a dark laugh as she completely vanished under the waves, shortly followed by the entangled Ice Dragon as the Kraken dragged its helpless victim into the depths.

* * *

It took less than an hour before Ahtohallan was devoid of visitors as it had been before. But Iduna's short visit had changed the island forever, as her eldest daughter would find out 29 years later.

* * *

_You might've guessed, but a sequel is scheduled after this fic is finished, and some of the characters that appeared here will have a recurring role in that sequel. I've barely started on its draft, and it'll take a really long time before I actually begin posting it, but someday, I think, what happened in this chapter and some others can be explained more clearly._


	15. For Arendelle

Compared to the troubles Iduna had gone through while headed for Ahtohallan, the return journey through the Dark Sea was almost… uneventful.

The Mist Knight stopped to let her drop off where they had left off, at the edge of the fjord. As Iduna did her best attempt at a curtsey to the air spirit for helping her, she blinked in surprise to see the Will O' Wisp was still there, as if it had been waiting for her return.

"What is it?" Asked Iduna, seeing that the fire spirit's flames glowed an ominous green, as if there was an urgent matter at hand. The Sylph had apparently noticed as well, and it quickly swirled around its fellow spirit to enlarge its fire.

It was trying to show Iduna a vision again.

"What do I have to see?" Whispered Iduna, too afraid to find the answers as the Will O' Wisp's fire cast shadows upon the rocky cliffside behind it. Iduna squinted as she tried to interpret them like the last time, but one shape stood out way too clearly to think of anything else:

The figure of a young man, crumpled on his throne as a black, ghastly figure loomed over him – one that Iduna could never forget for the last five years.

"The Nightmare Spirit…!" Gasped the young girl in horror. "It will come back? No… it's already in Arendelle?"

The Will O' Wisp's flames turned into a dark crimson; that was information enough for her.

"Then Arendelle's already in danger," breathed Iduna as she looked at the other shadows; she couldn't recognize most of the hazy shapes, but they certainly weren't anything human, and they were terrorizing the shadows of houses and people. She didn't have to see more.

"But I'm not a warrior or a wizard; I can't save Arendelle alone," she spoke to herself as she looked at her friends – the Sylph, the Will O' Wisp, the Morphling, and now the Mist Knight. "I know I don't deserve your friendship, and honestly I still have no idea if you even understand what I'm saying. But… I'll still ask, as a friend… will you help me save my home?"

Perhaps it was the desperation in her voice, or the conviction that she must do this, or the acceptance that Arendelle was her home as much as the Northurland was. Whichever way, the four spirits briefly looked at each other until all heads turned to the Morphling, who shifted into Agnarr's form and answered gravely: "For Arendelle."

"For Arendelle," Iduna echoed with a grateful smile, and when the Mist Knight offered its hand to her again… she was beaming.

* * *

Kai miserably looked out of the terrace window at the night sky, wondering how in the world this had come to be.

Their beloved King had fallen into the claws of the Nightmare Spirit. Nearly all the guards have been possessed by the army of banshee created by the dark entity, and in turn they had shut the gates and had all the castle staff locked inside.

As if that wasn't enough, the Nightmare Spirit had summoned an army of magical creatures to harass the people out in town as well, tearing down houses and grouping everyone together. It was as if they were all looking for something…

Kai's thought went to Agnarr, probably sitting on the throne with empty eyes as he had for the last several days, only echoing those "Must… find… Iduna…" like a broken doll. Kai didn't have a doubt that the evil specter was manipulating the King's feelings for the vanished girl to seek her out, but for what? He had no answers.

As the young page yet again wallowed in his sense of helplessness, an unfamiliar sound reached his ears. It seemed to echo far away from the skies, but it wasn't the screeching of harpies that had been clawing at his eardrums for days. It sounded more like… bats?

The harpies responded to the new presence aggressively, shrieking in a horrible cacophony as they rose above the sky to meet the incoming –

"Gargoyles?!" Gasped Kai in shock as he finally saw the black shapes that were hurtling down from the clouds to engage the flying hags. He hadn't seen the earth spirits himself when they broke into the castle before, with Agnarr being wounded and Iduna leaving shortly afterwards. But there seemed to be much more then just three of them as they ruthlessly assailed the harpies, snatching them away from the skies and pinning them to the nearest floor.

Before Kai could wonder if that was a good thing, however, the Nightmare Spirit's other minions began reacting to the commotion. The Tunnelers, usually burrowed underground and keeping the rounded up citizens from escaping, abandoned their posts to leap up and try to catch the gargoyles in their sharp maw, while the Flame Serpent raised its gigantic head up and began breathing fire against the intruders.

Just when Kai was starting to believe that he was imagining things, he heard a sound that solidified that belief: a horse neighing above the clouds.

"What's going on?!" Exclaimed Gerda as she suddenly appeared next to Kai, and they looked up together in amazement as a knight on horseback rode out from the sky, its body airy and ethereal and its gallops unreally swift as it dodged the Fire Serpent's breaths.

But the blaze of eyes beneath its cloak and the turquoise sword it brandished was extremely real, as the gigantic snake found out the hard way when it was beheaded a second later.

"Is… is this happening for real?" Stammered Gerda as she stuck closer to Kai, who was alarmed by the fact that she was seeing what he was seeing and they weren't delusional after all.

The Mist Knight's arrival seemed to boost the gargoyle's morale greatly, while the Tunnelers, alarmed by the Fire Serpent's death, tried to flee back into their holes – only to see that it had been flooded.

"For Arendelle!" Kai and Gerda nearly jumped off the balcony in shock as water shot up from one of the pools before shaping itself in Iduna's form, crying out for everyone who could hear: "For Arendelle!"

The water spirit's cries (in Iduna's voice) also managed to reach the gathered citizens of Arendelle, who had been watching the whole scene unfold with panic and confusion. The battle call, if nothing else, assured them that these newcoming spirits were fighting on _their_ side.

"For Arendelle!" They cried out in unison as they sprang into action, wildly scattering as they grabbed whatever tool they could get their hands on to finally start fighting back – for themselves, for their families, for their home, for their kingdom.

Meanwhile the Mist Knight had already found its next opponent – the Drowned Wraith, who had been guarding the harbor to stop anyone from escaping into the fjord. Now, noticing the riot, it lumbered into the town square, its ridiculously large armor creating cracks on the cobblestone and its giant anchor swinging dangerously.

The dual between the two entities would've been quite interesting to watch, but Kai and Gerda were distracted by a dull _thud_ on the roof. By the heavens, were they sieging the castle as well?!

"How many more surprises can I take today?" Muttered Kai as he leaned over the balcony, trying to see who had dared to intrude on the castle rooftop – only to flinch for yet another surprise.

"Kai! Gerda!" Exclaimed a familiar brunette girl as she expertly slid down from the roof, slipping into the terrace and landing lightly in front of the two stunned servants. "I'm so glad you're okay! Where is the King?"

"Iduna!" Exclaimed Gerda as she flung herself into the girl's arms in a stifling embrace. "You had us worried _sick_, running off like that! Oh, it's so good to have you back!"

"Iduna," spoke Kai, desperately trying to stay calm and access the situation as he locked eyes with her. "Where have you been this whole time? You… do you have something to do with what's happening outside?"

"That's not important," replied Iduna, briefly looking away in an unreadable expression. "The Nightmare Spirit's back, isn't it? All the monsters outside are just illusions it created."

"Yes, it's back; it has taken control of the King, and it's been looking for you." Kai pressed on, even as he noticed that something seemed… different about Iduna. Was it newfound confidence?

Wherever she'd been during the last month, she had emerged from it changed.

"Then I have to get to him right now," said Iduna with a resolved face, but before Kai could question her any further the terrace door slammed, open, revealing a banshee-possessed soldier who eyed the three people with a blank expression.

"Iduna…" Whispered the soldier hoarsely as he pointed at Iduna, the other hand reaching for his sword – which Kai would not see happening.

"Oh no, you don't!" He cried out as he launched himself forward, absentmindedly noticing that Gerda had done so simultaneously. Though the soldier in question was a huge man, Kai and Gerda weren't exactly lean for their age… and two of them slamming into him had quite an impact.

"Go, Iduna!" Yelled Kai and he and Gerda dogpiled the soldier, desperately wrestling the possessed man as he struggled to throw them off. "Do whatever you have to do to save the King!"

For a moment Iduna seemed to hesitate, a pained look in her eyes as she saw the two servants tussling with a fellow castle staff. Then that hard, resolved expression returned as she locked her jaw, and nodded before sprinting down the pitch-black hallway.

* * *

When she'd seen the Will O' Wisp's visions, she hadn't realized that it would _this_ soon of a future.

Iduna had almost collapsed in despair when she returned to find Arendelle already fallen, but in her head she knew that once the Nightmare Spirit was vanquished, this living nightmare that it had created would be gone as well. All she had to do was to reach Agnarr – and she knew how to create a distraction.

Praying that this would be the last time she'd ever use it, she called out to the spirits again, which was immediately answered by an entire flock of gargoyles; guess they hadn't been very far away from Arendelle after all. As the Mist Knight led the earth spirits to fight the magical creatures, the Sylph had carried Iduna into the castle, where she fortunately ran into Kai and Gerda.

But her obstacles were far from over; for every corner she turned in the corridor a guard jumped out, all of them possessed by banshees and out to get her.

"What a spiteful spirit!" Growled Iduna as she dove under the arms of yet another soldier, silently aiming more curses at the Nightmare Spirit as she made a break for the throne room. The Sylph and the Will O' Wisp were right behind her, creating walls of fire and fanning them to stop the possessed soldier from reaching her. It pained Iduna to set the castle on fire, but at least they were magical; when this is all over they will be withdrawn without leaving a trace.

It was no hard work finding the throne room; Iduna had lived here for five years, she knew every nook and cranny of the place by heart. In her sense of urgency she almost kicked down the door as she all but rolled into the heart of the castle – only to freeze at the sight before her.

"I…du…na…"

* * *

_Not the most ideal reunion ever, huh? We'll see what Iduna has in mind to save Agnarr from the Nightmare Spirit in the next chapter :)_


	16. Fear is What Can't Be Trusted

She did not expect their reunion would be something like this.

Her eyes immediately fell upon Agnarr, slumped onto the throne with the imposing shape of the Nightmare Spirit rising out of him – just like the Will O' Wisp's vision. He looked thinner than how she remembered him, and Iduna's heart wrenched painfully seeing how _empty_ he looked; as if the man she'd fallen in love with had been snatched away and locked up, replaced by someone she didn't know.

Then she slowly looked above at the Nightmare Spirit. Its eyes couldn't be seen beneath the shadow of its jet-black cloak, but she could tell from its posture that it was _wary_ of her; the notion seemed silly, but apparently it hadn't forgotten how she had cut it off from Agnarr by punching him awake.

It wasn't about to be caught off-guard twice; an entire squad of possessed soldiers stood between Iduna and Agnarr, swords drawn and shields raised to protect their King… sort of. Even if she was aided by the Sylph and the Will O' Wisp, who were waiting outside to stop more soldiers from coming in, there was no way she was getting past them.

Except… maybe she didn't need to.

Ahtohallan didn't teach her anything about her past, or why she could call upon the spirits, or why so many of them acted friendly to her. But her journey has taught her many aspects of this side of her, and now she had a deeper understanding about herself and what she could do.

She knew what she had to do then and there.

_AH-AH-AH-AHH – _

Her call rang out clearer than ever, and the soldiers (or rather, the banshees that possessed them) looked at each other in confusion. The Nightmare Soldier, meanwhile, immediately reacted to her voice – it began rising higher and higher until its head almost reached the celling, with only a thin layer of smoke connecting itself to Agnarr.

Iduna knew her plan was working; evil or not, the Nightmare Spirit was still a spirit, and it was answering to Iduna's call. Perhaps it had been waiting for this moment as well, ever since it had first encountered the Spiritcaller all this time ago.

With an unearthly shriek that almost sounded, the specter swept down at Iduna like a pouncing hawk, and Iduna embraced it with open arms –

\- and darkness claimed her.

* * *

Somehow, Iduna knew that she would wake up to see herself in the Enchanted Forest.

Of course the Nightmare Spirit would've chosen this place to show her something horrible. This was the moment where it all began, when she lost her family, her friends, her home… it used to be her entire world, and within a single moment it had become a place of betrayal and death.

Iduna would have laughed at the specter's lack of creativity… if it weren't for the sight of bodies covering every part of the forest.

In her head Iduna knew this was just an illusion, no more real than the bad dreams she soothed Agnarr out of so often in the past, but that didn't make the bloody sight any less horrible. Many of the Northuldra bodies belonged to someone she used to know, and it took all of her willpower to stop her knees from wobbling in despair.

Was Agnarr haunted by this kind of nightmare when she had been singing her lullaby next to him? Was she going through the suffering he had to endure for years?

Iduna violently shook her head, shutting her eyes and trying to force the terrible sight out of her mind. _This is not real, this is not real._ She had to overcome this…

"Iduna…"

Her eyes snapped open as a familiar voice called out her name, and she looked behind her to see the Northuldra chieftain slowly walking towards her… blood all over him and an Arendellian sword embedded into his back.

"Chief…" Iduna felt her heart break as she looked at the elderly man. She had been closer to the Northuldra leader compared to others of her age, and he had been interested in her extraordinary friendship with the spirits. They were quite an unlikely pair of friends… and now here she was, watching him suffer under the terrible fate that she'd barely managed to escape.

"Look what the Arendellians did to us, Iduna…" whispered the Chief, coughing up more blood in the process as his burning gaze bore into her eyes. "They betrayed us! Everything was a lie from the start. They tricked us into weakening the forest, then lured us into this treachery! Murderers! Thieves!"

Iduna was silent as she took in all the hate emanating from the old man, so unnatural compared to his usual calm and wise personality. Maybe it was the stark unrealness of it that kept her from being swept up by his rage as well, whether it was righteous or not.

"Let justice be done, Iduna," continued the Chief with a new sense of urgency, holding out one bloodied hand at Iduna. "A wrong must be righted. Remember your roots, Iduna! You don't belong here. They look at you now and smile, but once they find out you are one of us…"

THAT made Iduna shudder. No one had any idea who had betrayed the other first, Arendelle or the Northuldra, but the fight that resulted from it certainly did not endear her people to Agnarr's. If they were to find out her true heritage, would they accept her purely for who she is like they were doing now?

"Stand with your people, Iduna," urged the Chief, eyes glinting upon seeing Iduna waver. "Avenge me, avenge us! Avenge your people! They were the ones who unleashed this nightmare before you. Let them have a taste of their own medicine, Iduna!"

There was a sense of desperation in his voice as he pleaded to be avenged, so much fear, so much anger… so _contagious_. For a moment it almost overwhelmed Iduna too, convincing her, threatening to sweep her away…

But then she remembered the vision Ahtohallan showed her, the future in which the Northuldra and Arendelle meet once again in friendship and love, where the Fifth Spirit return to truly connect humanfolk and nature.

Iduna wasn't so foolish that she'd think that future was written in stone for her – she would have to work to make it true. And she knew that if she took the Chief's hand now, no matter how right it would seem to do so at the moment, that future will never come to be.

So with a heavy heart she stood up, looked straight into those burning eyes of the dying Chief, and said: "No."

The old man – no, the Nightmare Spirit, Iduna corrected herself – looked incredulous that she would try and fight back this nightmare, completely taken aback by her resistance. With a jolt of understanding, Iduna realized that the specter still thought of her as the scared and unsure child that thwarted it five years ago. That five years ago, in Arendelle and throughout her journey, had changed her in ways that it couldn't hope to understand, and that made Iduna happier than she could've imagined.

"The real Chief would've never spoken like that, and even if he did my answer wouldn't change," continued the girl regretfully as her eyes came level with the elder. "I won't forget the violence in our past, but I won't pretend I know the whole truth. Maybe one of us are to blame and maybe not, and one day the truth will be found… but we can't do that now, and I won't give into hate without a reason."

"_The truth means nothing in the face of fear!"_ Spat the Chief, his voice beginning to crack up and distort and the blood on his body turning into black smoke; the Nightmare Spirit's guise was failing in the face of her rejection.

"You try to use fear to turn my family and friends against each other," snarled Iduna as she fixed the specter with a cold glare. "Then fear is my enemy. You may have trapped me in your world now, but I'll fight back with every breath I have! I won't _ever_ let my fear hurt the ones I love again!"

* * *

"_AAAAAARGH!"_

A painful scream woke Agnarr with a start, and he thought he was thrown into a nightmare again – for he had only heard that voice scream in the worst of his nightmares.

"Iduna…?" He croaked out, looking around him in confusion; his whole body felt so weak, as if he hadn't slept in days, and his mind was still muddled with the visions of the Enchanted Forest and his father's words still lingering in his ears, urging him to find Iduna…...

Iduna!

A second pained groan snapped Agnarr out of his stupor, and the young King staggered to his feet as he furiously rubbed his eyes to get rid of all the blurs. His head had cleared just enough to realize that he'd just been freed from a spell of some sort, but what…?

And then he saw her.

Iduna was collapsed on the floor near the entrance to the throne room, and Agnarr gasped in horror to see a familiar pitch-black shape rising out of her like a djinn and its lamp, the same figure that he had seen her defeat five years ago and saved his life.

Even in his befuddled state Agnarr was smart enough to put two and two together; he had been possessed by the Nightmare Spirit, and Iduna had somehow taken the specter into herself, effectively sacrificing herself for him.

"NO!" cried the young King as he completely broke out of his stupor, and he noticed that they weren't alone; practically half the Royal Guards were there, but their eyes seemed oddly empty, as if they were being possessed by something too. And they looked… confused?

Agnarr's puzzled look returned to Iduna again, and this time he noticed something more.

"I… won't…" Iduna was seething through clenched teeth, and Agnarr realized that she wasn't writhing on the ground just out of pain; she was _fighting back_. She was _resisting_ the Nightmare Spirit, which was writhing midair itself as it desperately tried to subjugate its half-asleep victim.

His last encounter with the dark spirit taught Agnarr enough to know that without a host it was no threat, but could how was he to remove that thing from Iduna while she could still withstand its torments?

_Angry spirits cannot be harmed with anything but magic…_

The old troll's words suddenly echoed in Agnarr's head, and he began fumbling in his pockets until it produced exactly what he needed: the obsidian dagger that Pabbie had given him for precaution. To think that it would come of use so soon!

"I…. AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Iduna let out an earsplitting shriek again, and Agnarr rushed through the wall of soldiers (who still seemed too baffled to do anything) and sat by her side. To his amazement he could see a small, black orb rising out of the young girl's back with excruciating slowness, and it was connected to the Nightmare Spirit's smoky lower form as it screeched in dismay trying to push it back into her.

_That must be its core!_ Deduced Agnarr, deciding there was no time to hesitate.

"Forgive me, Iduna!" Whispered Agnarr as he whipped out the stone dagger, beating down his fear for a split second – before plunging the magical artifact straight into the black orb.

* * *

_I told you to pay attention to Pabbie's gift in Chapter 12, right? :)_

_See the next chapter for what fate awaits Iduna after being literally stabbed in the back..._


	17. Conquering Fear

"Oh…!" Iduna's screams caught in her throat as the dagger pierced through the specter's core and a little into her back, before unconsciousness at last claimed her and her head hit the floor.

"Iduna! No, no…." A horrified Agnarr hurriedly pulled the dagger out (with the black sphere still stuck on it) to check on her. Fortunately the wound wasn't deep, but the fact that he just made her bleed like this made him want to stab himself.

Then the most horrid shriek he had ever heard slapped his eardrums, and his gaze turned upwards to see the Nightmare Spirit, cut off from its host and its core impaled, literally thrash about in the air as its form began to crumple and dissipate in smoke. At the same time all the soldiers around them crumpled to the floor as banshees rose out of them, screaming in terror as their bodies began to vanish as well.

"I… what? Your Majesty!" To his credit, it was the Captain of the Guard who first regained its senses, hurriedly rushing over to the King as he sat dazed beside an unconscious Iduna. "What had just happened? We saw the Nightmare Spirit bewitching you and… this girl…?"

"Spare your questions for later, Captain; get her to the infirmary first!" Ordered Agnarr, forcing the King voice into him again as he shakily rose up again. In truth he was drowning in exhaustion and grief, and would have wanted nothing more than to sit right there by Iduna's side, but it was time for him to be a King again.

He was getting better at putting up a show, somewhat to his chagrin.

The Captain looked as if he wanted to argue, but then the Nightmare Spirit let out yet another agonizing scream. Everyone looked up in time to see the specter's form completely melt into the air, finally defeated for good.

"Your Majesty!"

"Kai! Gerda!" Cried Agnarr as he saw the two young servants all but rolling into the throne room.

"By heavens, that girl really did it!" Exclaimed Kai as he beheld his King with wonder and joy evident on his face. Then his gaze fell to Iduna as a soldier hurriedly carried her limp body to the infirmary. "What happened, your Majesty? Is she alright?"

"I hope so," whispered Agnarr, meaning his words more than he ever did in life. "… what about the kingdom, Kai? How long was I… in this state?"

"For a couple of days," replied Kai with a frown. "And as for what's been going on… you might want to see for yourself."

* * *

_CLANG!_

The Mist Knight let out a furious hiss as his sword clashed against the Drowned Wraith's anchor yet again, the shock of the impact almost throwing him off his horse. The heavyweight water creature proved itself a formidable enemy, but he was a Knight and refused to lose against a brainless brute without a shred of dignity. The ferocity of their duals was such that no citizen of Arendelle, who were busy fighting for their freedom against the other magical creatures, dared to intrude.

The Mist Knight was a peculiar brand of spirit; he hadn't always been a personified natural phenomenon, and even now, after he had left his mortal days far behind, there were some human values he still stubbornly clung onto: chivalry and honor.

Chivalry was what made him answer to Iduna's calls at the Dark Sea, for how could a knight turn away a lady's plight? And it helped that she was a friend of kind spirits, on top of being brave, respectable and warm-hearted; if he still had a face, it would have smiled at the thought of her.

While it bothered the Mist Knight greatly that she was to face the Nightmare Spirit alone, he respected her wishes, instead volunteering to create the right amount of distraction for her quest to succeed. The gargoyles were the more senseless and volatile of spirits, but they were also easy to inspire and provided just what they all needed.

"…_**!" **_The Drowned Wraith bellowed as it threw its anchor at the air spirit again. With a grunt of irritation the Mist Knight raised his sword to parry it again – only to hiss in confusion as the weapon passed straight through his body as if it was made out of smoke.

The creature seemed just as baffled as he was, until it looked down on itself and noticed that its entire body was rapidly fading. Looking around the Mist Knight saw that the same was happening to the harpies and the Tunnelers summoned by the Nightmare Spirit, which could only mean one thing: Iduna had succeeded in her mission.

He was too much of a spirit now to feel intense emotions, but he still felt a rush of pride for the young lady. She had braved the stormy seas to find her destiny, and now had overcome an army of magic beyond her powers to save the ones she loved. He was a knight, but she was a greater hero than he could ever hope to be.

By now the Arendellians had realized that their harassers were gone, and were cheering and celebrating and hugging each other – except the ones who were eyeing the Mist Knight, the gargoyles and the Morphling warily.

The air spirit's steed let out a snort at the dubious gazes, but he understood. These people were not used to have spirits meddling with their affairs, and sometimes it was just best to leave the humanfolk settle things for themselves.

As the Mist Knight turned around to face his fellow spirits, he briefly glanced back to see the rising sun washing its light over the Arendelle castle, and thought of the girl who had brought him here. He felt a little unruly for leaving now without bidding the lady farewell, but she would know that her friends, including himself, would be there for her whenever she called upon them.

"…_**!"**_ Noticing the Sylph and the Will O' Wisp slipping out of the castle to join him, the Mist Knight let out a shriek of triumph as he raised his sword high in the air. The gargoyles followed suit as they took to the air, while the Morphling simply dove into the nearest pool and disappeared.

The other spirits took to the air as well, leaving the citizens to wonder why they had helped them in the first place – with no idea that it was the wit and courage of a small Northuldra girl that had saved the kingdom of Arendelle that day.

* * *

"Am I supposed to feel a sense of déjà vu here?" Complained Agnarr as he lay on the infirmary bed, having servants and nurses fretting over him as if he'd just gone through a fit.

"With all due respect, your Majesty, you haven't eaten or slept for three days," deadpanned Kai from his side. "Even counting out the fact that you've been haunted by that wretched ghost during the whole time, you're in a terrible shape. Rest is what you need."

"More than someone who'd just been stabbed in the back?" Retorted Agnarr as he shot a glance at the bunk next to him where Iduna lay sleeping, topless except for the bandages wrapped around her torso. Though it was necessary at the time, Agnarr felt pain ripping through his every fiber every time he was reminded that he did that to her.

"Of course we'll do everything we can for her as well," replied Gerda with an understanding smile, though it was tainted later by a hint of worry in her voice: "Except… well."

"Except?" Asked Agnarr with one eyebrow raised, prompting her to elaborate.

"It's… you know everyone had been wondering about why Iduna disappeared," spoke up Kai with a slightly embarrassed expression. "Most of the kingdom already knows that she's back, and are mostly happy to have her back… but there are some who'd been making… well, _bad_ connections about her and the trouble with the spirits."

Agnarr understood the hidden implications in his words a little too quickly, feeling a surge of anger course through his blood in a roar.

"They're accusing _Iduna_ for what happened?" Snarled the young King, with such venom in his voice that Gerda flinched in surprise. "Are they mad? She's the one who SAVED everyone, including me! That doesn't make any sense!"

"Sometimes people listen to gossip more than logic," replied Kai gravely.

"Then I'll show them logic," fumed Agnarr as he turned to look at Iduna's face again. While sleeping her strong will and outgoing nature were briefly hidden underneath, replaced by a sense of tranquility and content that made him want to stare at it forever.

"In fact…" added the young King, as a crazy idea began formulating in his head. "I'll show them gossip too, if that's what they want."

Kai and Gerda only exchanged a glance at each other in confusion. Afterwards, however, after Agnarr explained to them what he would do, they left the infirmary smiling.


	18. His Peace and Her Home

Iduna opened her eyes to find herself in the infirmary in the middle of the night – and felt a sense of déjà vu.

Still groggy from sleeping for how long, the first thing she did was to recount her last memories. She called upon the Nightmare Spirit to draw it away from Agnarr and into herself, check. It tormented her with visions of the battle at the Enchanted Forest, which she fought back, check.

It was during the midst of that when a sudden pain lashed at her back, the moment the Nightmare Spirit let out a terrible scream that knocked her out. And now she was laying here, face down in the infirmary bed…. That should be a good sign, right?

"Iduna… are you awake?"

Iduna nearly leaped out of bed as Agnarr's voice sounded very close, and she immediately bolted upright to find the young King leaning on the bed next to her… whose face was suddenly red as he averted his eyes to the side.

"I - ah!" Exclaimed Iduna as she realized that the only cloth she had on her top was a bandage that circumvented her chest and back, and quickly pulled up her blankets to her face that was too close to exploding.

"S-sorry! I didn't see anything!" Stammered Agnarr as he turned around with crimson ears, and Iduna would've found the gesture endearing if it weren't for her own embarrassment. "I… I'm just glad you're awake at last. You've been sleeping for three days straight, you know."

"I have?" Mumbled Iduna, then she remembered that the last time she saw Agnarr he was being tormented by an evil spirit. "Are… are you alright, your Majesty? What about the rest of the kingdom?"

"Everyone's okay, thanks to you," assured Agnarr, though there was a hint of sadness in his smile as he turned back to Iduna. "The only one who didn't leave this event unscarred is you, Iduna. I'm so sorry."

At that Iduna felt around her bandaged spot under her blanket, and winced as a dull pain came from a spot on her back.

"You were so brave when you fought back against the Nightmare Spirit," continued Agnarr and his eyes trailed to the floor in guilt. "You were pushing it out, and its core came out through your back. I… I had to destroy it to save Arendelle, but I hurt you in the process… the doctors said the scar would remain. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, your Majesty," replied Iduna quietly, though she still found it hard to meet his gaze. "One scar for all of Arendelle, I'll take that deal any day. It's not like it's on a spot that shows, anyway."

"… Thank you," sighed Agnarr as he looked back up at her. "I guess that's twice you saved my life now. I shouldn't make this a habit, or I'll be too indebted to you."

"Well, you kind of saved my life this time too," returned Iduna, glad for his effort to lighten the mood. But there was still an issue she felt like she had to address: "You… you're not wondering why I had to leave the kingdom?"

"Hmm," hummed Agnarr, looking a little taken aback by her words. Then he said: "I'll be lying if I said I'm not at all curious – you were sorely missed by everyone, Iduna… including me."

"Then…" Iduna began, even as she struggled to find the right words. How much could she tell him? What could she tell him about the journey without revealing her heritage or what she can do?

Agnarr must have noticed her hesitation, for he held out his hand for her to stop.

"I won't force you into telling anything you don't want to," he said quickly. "What's important is that you're back, and… and you're not going to leave again, are you?"

"No, I can promise that," answered Iduna immediately, smiling a little. At least that much she was certain of.

"Oh, okay. Good," answered Agnarr, and an awkward silence fell between them. What was going on? Iduna wasn't used to this kind of atmosphere.

The young King's eyes were fleeting elsewhere again, and Iduna took the chance to steal a glance at him as he fidgeted nervously… nervously? What would he be nervous about?

"You know, you're pretty popular throughout the kingdom, do you know that?" Agnarr started out nonchalantly, though the anxiety didn't leave him completely. "Most people are just happy to have you back, no questions. I think it proves that you've been really good for them ever since you came here."

"Most…?" Asked Iduna timidly, not missing the implied note there. Obviously, someone was bound to correlate her actions and the magical events that had been happening to Arendelle all this time.

"Well, yes," admitted Agnarr, his expression betraying that he hadn't expected the words to come out like that. "There will always be ungrateful people who likes to talk behind people's backs, as if you have something to do with the latest tragedy and all."

"Oh," was all Iduna could say, trying to sound nonchalant. She couldn't blame them, anyway; they weren't THAT far from the truth, after all.

"Well, you shouldn't worry about it. I'll make sure you're protected from those stupid suspicions," blurted out Agnarr with a force that startled Iduna; she hardly ever heard the normally soft-spoken King assert something like that.

"How?" Asked Iduna mostly out of curiosity, and there was that nervous look again. What was going on?

"Well, you see…" began Agnarr as he finally gave up leaning on his bed and began pacing back and forth in front of Iduna. "Um, not that I'm trying to boast or anything, but, since I'm nineteen, my official coronation will be in two years. And, well, you're three years younger than me, so by then you'll be eighteen, which means you'll come of age… but wait, I haven't been thinking about your intentions… not that I don't think your opinion matters of course, Iduna! I just… well…"

Iduna felt her eyes getting wider by the moment at the flurry of words from the young King's mouth. Besides the fact that she had no idea what he was talking about, it was almost… _endearing_ to see the usually composed man so utterly flustered. She just wished she could better understand what had gotten him in this state.

"Um… your Majesty? I'm not really following." So she decided to be honest for once, even though she inwardly winced for being blunt when Agnarr stopped short, looking as he'd been hit on the head.

"… of course, I've been rambling, haven't I?" Sighed the young King with a wry smile as some of the tension left him. "Ugh, and I've been practicing for this too. Guess I'm really bad at planning these things out, after all."

"You're planning something for me?" Asked Iduna with a sudden pang of fear. What was so important or grave about it that it would take this long for him to get to say it?

"Well, yes, though it's more like for you _and me_," corrected Agnarr as he took a step closer to Iduna – which made her reflexively pull up her blanket a little higher. "Alright, I won't make a fool out of myself anymore. I'm going to say what's in my heart, Iduna."

The sincerity in his gaze almost took the breath out of Iduna, and she had to struggle to hear his words over the roar of blood that began pulsing under her ears.

"Before I met you, Iduna, I was just a scared boy who could only pretend that he could be a good King, someone who could only put on a show," admitted Agnarr as he took another step, taking him right in front of Iduna's bedside. "My father was a strict but strong King, and seeing him fall so… helplessly… it gave me nightmares every night."

Iduna blinked as she drank in the King's words. She'd never seen him talk this freely about his insecurities, even around Kai and Gerda.

"But you made them go away, didn't you?" Agnarr's words nearly had Iduna leap out of her skin in shock. How did he… "You really thought I wouldn't notice if someone was singing me a lullaby almost every time I had a bad dream?"

"… I'm sorry," was all Iduna could say as she buried her face into her blanket with a scarlet face.

"For keeping my nights safe?" Asked Agnarr with an amused chuckle. "I know it was selfish to pretend I didn't know, but I… I really appreciated it, Iduna. You brought me peace when I needed it most, and for that I can never thank you enough."

And then, slowly but surely, the young King got down to one knee so that his eyes would be level with Iduna's.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that the Nightmare Spirit returned so soon after you were gone," he said quietly, holding her transfixed with that gentle (and, she dared to hope, caring) gaze. "You _are_ my peace, Iduna… and I want to be selfish enough to keep it that way for many nights to come."

Iduna blinked at the strange confession, not getting it for a second. Then she felt blood rushing up to her face again until it felt like it would burst. She must be imagining this. Did he just…

"Technically I shouldn't be asking you this now, since you're still sixteen, but…" continued Agnarr with a sheepish smile as he pulled something tiny and shining out of his pocket. "I can wait for two years, Iduna. So I'll ask… will you do the same for me?"

Iduna could only stare at the little ring stunned, and finally recognized that look in his eyes – it was the same thing that welled up in hers whenever she looked at him.

Only a months ago, Iduna had mentally whipped herself for falling in love with the King. Was it too much to believe that this hopeless love was being reciprocated?

"… Everyone in Arendelle has been so good for me ever since you brought me here," began Iduna, the words just rushing out of her mouth without time for her brain to proofread them. "But I never felt like I truly belonged here… until I left, that is."

"Did you miss this place?" Asked Agnarr, though an uncertain look briefly passed his eyes when she didn't answer his proposal immediately.

"I missed my home," answered Iduna as her left hand slipped out from under her blankets, gently touching his hand that held the ring meant for her. Then she dared to add: "And my home is here… with you."

"Then…!" Exclaimed Agnarr, and the pure joy on his face was enough for Iduna to be glad she said yes.

"Are you sure you're okay with me as the Queen of Arendelle, though?" Iduna couldn't help but ask, even as Agnarr slipped the ring onto her finger with such ease that she wondered if he'd been practicing on that too.

"If you don't qualify, I don't know who does," replied the King smoothly as he kissed her hand – such an odd sensation, even though it was pleasant. "And even if you weren't… I don't really care at this moment."

Seeing the ring sparkling on her hand the realization finally hit Iduna – the man who gave her a home, taught her love, the man she loved… was _hers_. The thought brought tears to her eyes, but it also made her want to sing.

"I could hug you right now, but my hands are full at the moment," she managed to joke through her sobs, still clutching on her blankets to stop her unclothed top from being exposed.

"Good thing mine aren't, then," chuckled Agnarr as he leaned in, wrapping his strong arms around her as his lips met hers in a warm kiss. Iduna could only close her eyes and let herself drown in her mirth. Just for that moment, nothing mattered for the fact that they were there together, and that their love had finally found each other.

She was home, and she was at peace.

* * *

_Well, there we have it; the grand conclusion to my interpretation of their first adventure. Chapter 19, the last chapter, will jump forward a few years to the epilogue. Thank you in advance for everyone who enjoyed this fic!_


	19. Epilogue: Hope

_**-October 1818-**_

Queen Iduna awoke at a gentle touch caressing her bare back.

"You're awake, my love?" Agnarr's soft words tickled her ears from right next to her, and she felt a shiver course through her body at both his breath and his touch. Even after being married for three years now, it was still hard to believe that she was lying in bed next to the King, and that he was _hers_ as much as she was his.

"I am now," she answered quietly, snuggling closer to her husband's strong, bare chest to share his warmth. "You didn't sleep at all? It's still dark outside."

"Hey, for once it wasn't because of nightmares," chuckled Agnarr. "After last night, I know all I'll be getting are good dreams…. Except I don't care, because I'll know it can't be compared to what's real and together with me now."

The King's words made Iduna blush into silence, and soon after she could feel his finger absentmindedly tracing her back again – until it stopped at a tiny scar at its center.

"Would that this never came to pass…" murmured Agnarr without hiding the sorrow in his voice – their three years of marriage was enough for him to hide nothing around his Queen.

"If you hadn't done it I wouldn't be alive," pointed out Iduna gently. "Besides, I think I like having it there – a token of your love that'll never go away."

"What, like your scratches?" Joked Agnarr, earning a playful smack from his wife. Then with a more serious note he added: "I never get tired of saying this, Iduna… but thank you."

"For what?" Iduna asked, turning around in bed to face her husband.

"For… everything, I guess," answered Agnarr with all the sincerity in the world. "For accepting Arendelle as your home, for always being there for me… for saying yes for me."

Iduna blushed again as her memories flew back to the years after the Nightmare Spirit's final defeat, after that fateful day when Agnarr had held her in the infirmary bed and asked for her hand in marriage.

To her surprise the majority of Arendelle was rather lenient on their King marrying a commoner, although there were a few who questioned her shady origin and her connection to the events concerning magical events earlier. Iduna gave the credit to the kingdom's open-minded culture, though Agnarr had insisted that it was because she proved everyone over the years what a wonderful person she was.

The King certainly knew how to flatter.

She remembered their wedding, held in conjunction with Agnarr's coronation. The ceremony was grand, at least in Iduna's point of view; for her part, she was just happy that Agnarr had waited as he had promised for two years. The sheer bliss of the moment they were announced husband and wife, when he pulled her closer for a searing kiss that officially marked her forever as his… it was a kind of happiness she would never trade for anything.

The King had apparently noticed his wife lost in thought, but instead of snapping her out of it he was simply content on caressing her bare skin again to his heart's content.

"You drool, by the way," he commented, and chuckled at a huff of mock indignation from Iduna.

"Well, you snore," she retaliated, having known this habit for a long time; she had, after all, been watching over his sleeping face for ten years now.

"We should be careful, or our next child may end up being a daughter who does both," joked Agnarr, and they both laughed at the idea – until a faint sound of a baby's crying caught their attention. "Ah… your daughter's awake, it seems."

"Until sunrise she's _your_ daughter," returned Iduna, flashing a smug look at her husband.

"You got me," relented Agnarr as he got out of their bed to slip on his nightgown, suppressing a groan as little Elsa's crying grew louder from the next room.

"One day she'll learn to sleep at night," chuckled Iduna as she sat up too, only for Agnarr to lean down and kiss her cheek before pushing her back down. "Take care of our little Snowflake, Agnarr."

"You'll never have to ask," answered Agnarr warmly before heading out to see to Elsa, leaving Iduna alone in the night.

Her thoughts fleeted back to the vision she saw in Ahtohallan, of Arendelle and the Northuldra finally at peace. That, and all her adventures with it, felt like a faraway dream to her now; she didn't mention much of it to anyone, not even Agnarr, and he had understood her need for silence. He was, after all, familiar with keeping things concealed.

Ten years of living in Arendelle was enough for Iduna to know that the people here were not familiar with magic, and the most recent encounter with one did not endear them to it. Iduna had to accept that this was how things were going to be… for a while, anyway. It was one of the reasons she had not made a single call for the spirits after the Nightmare Spirit was defeated.

But she knew she wasn't giving up. She, a Northuldra girl, had wed the King of Arendelle, and now Northuldra blood ran in its Royal line – through the sleeping princess in the next room, who also happened to possess magic…

Iduna shivered at the thought of Elsa and her powers. It filled her with so much love and fear, and she knew that she and Agnarr would have to fight to protect her from the world with every breath of their remaining lives.

For her part, Iduna could feel that if she succeeded, the future she had seen in Ahtohallan would somehow come closer. Call it a gut feeling.

She could do this. She would brave her fears, overcome the fears of her people, and raise her child in with all her love – for Arendelle, for her home, for Agnarr… and most of all, for Elsa.

As Iduna let that promise bring peace to her mind, enough for sleep to wash over her again, she thought she saw a reddish glow outside the window, and a soft whistle of the wind echoing her peoples' lullaby:

_**Where the north wind meets the sea**_

_**There's a mother full of memory**_

_**Come, my darling, homeward bound**_

_**When all is lost, then all is found…**_

* * *

_Well, that's the end of it; I'm sorry the epilogue was so short, but it's the epilogue._

_Like I've said before I'm currently drafting a fic that's sort of its sequel; it's loosely connected to this one, and you'll probably have to read this fic first to be able to understand the next one. I'm still in the early stages so it'll be a long time before I actually start uploading it, so for now this will be our farewell. Thanks for everyone who enjoyed this fic :)_


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